PRIVATE 
COMMERCIAL    SCHOOLS 


MANHATTAN 
and  the  BRONX 


REPORT    OF 

The  Committee  to  Investigate  Private  Commercial  Schools 


Published  by 

The   Public   Education   Association    of   the 
City  of   New  York 

1918 


EXCHANGE 


PRIVATE 
COMMERCIAL    SCHOOLS 


MANHATTAN 
and  the  BRONX 


BY 
BERTHA  j  STEVENS 

Author,  Boys  and  Girls  In  Commercial  Work,  Cleveland  Foundation 

Education  Survey,  1916.    Co-author,  Commercial  Work  and 

Training  for  Girls,  Macmillan,  1915 


1918 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    THE  PURPOSE  AND  SCOPE  OF  THIS  STUDY  12 

A  TYPICAL  ILLUSTRATION  12 

SOURCES  OF  PRELIMINARY  INFORMATION  14 

THE  POINT  OF  VIEW  15 

II  A  GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  SCHOOLS  16 

NUMBER,  SIZE  AND  LOCATION  OF  SCHOOLS  16 

SCHOOLS  GROUPED  ACCORDING  TO  TYPES  18 

THE  STUDENTS  22 

THE  TEACHING  FORCE  25 

COURSES  OF  STUDY  26 

INDIVIDUAL  INSTRUCTION  30 

PERIOD  AND  COST  OF  INSTRUCTION  31 

EQUIPMENT  32 

FINDING  POSITIONS  FOR  STUDENTS  34 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  RIVALRY  36 

SUDDEN  CLOSING  OF  SCHOOLS  38 

THE  MORTALITY  OF  SCHOOLS  41 

THE  RIGHT  OF  PRIVATE  SCHOOLS  TO  EXIST  42 

III  THE  PRODUCT  OF  THE  SCHOOLS  46 

SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION  46 

LEAVING  BEFORE  GRADUATION  47 

THE  FATE  OF  1035  TRAINED  WORKERS  48 

SOME  INDIVIDUAL  STORIES  53 

ENGLISH  TESTS  FOR  TRAINED  WORKERS  56 
WORKERS'  OPINIONS  ON  THE  NEED  FOR  HIGH  SCHOOL 

EDUCATION  66 

AN  INTENSIVE  STUDY  OF  ONE  SCHOOL'S  PRODUCT  68 

IV  SOLICITATION  OF  PUPILS  78 

PRIVATE    COMMERCIAL    SCHOOL    SOLICITATION    OF 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  CHILDREN  80 

THE  EXTENT  OF  SOLICITATION  81 

How  CHILDREN'S  NAMES  ARE  SECURED  81 

METHODS  AND  ARGUMENTS  USED  BY  SOLICITORS  82 
THE  INFLUENCE  OF  PRIVATE  COMMERCIAL  SCHOOLS 

WITH  REGARD  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  EDUCATION  86 

COUNTER -EFFORTS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  86 


428899 


CONTENTS 

(CONTINUED) 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

V    ADVERTISING  METHODS  89 

FORMS  OF  ADVERTISING  90 

POLICY  IN  ADVERTISING  92 

INVESTIGATION  OF  ONE  SCHOOL 's  ADVERTISING  93 

GOOD  ADVERTISING  96 

VI    THE  NATURE  OF  OFFICE  POSITIONS  99 

THE  FATE  OF  SEEMINGLY  UNDESIRABLE  STUDENTS  100 

THE  ALTERNATIVE  OF  FACTORY  WORK  105 

THE  USE  OF  STENOGRAPHY  AND  BOOKKEEPING  106 

AN  OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  117 

VII    PUBLIC  CONTROL  OF  PRIVATE  SCHOOLS  119 

REGENTS'  REGISTRATION  120 

LEGALIZING  THE  SCHOOLS  124 
THE  CRUX  OF  THE  PRIVATE  COMMEECIAL  SCHOOL 

SITUATION  125 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  PRINCIPALS  AND 

TEACHERS  126 

EFFECTIVE  CONTROL  THROUGH  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  EDU- 
CATION 128 

SUMMARYfOF  RECOMMENDATIONS  133 

APPENDIX  135 


LIST  OF  TABLES 


PAGB 

The  entrance  requirements  and  the  length  and  cost  of 
courses  in  31  private  commercial  schools  of  Man- 
hattan and  the  Bronx.  21 

Courses  of  study  in  31  private  commercial  schools  of 

Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  27 


3  Kinds  of  English  instruction  in  27  private  commercial 

schools  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  29 

4  Physical  conditions  in  31  private  commercial  schools 

of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  33 

5  Minimum  wages  demanded  for  graduates  at  18  private 

commercial  schools  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  36 

6  I/ist  of  private  commercial  schools  of  New  York  City 

published  in  Trow's  directory  five  to  ten  years  ago, 

but  not  listed  1916-1917.  41 

7  Advice  regarding  High  School  education.      Given  to 

public  school  children  by  solicitors  for  private  com- 
mercial schools.  85 

8  First  positions  held  by  30  graduates  who  left  their 

commercial  school  at  16  years  of  age  or  younger.  102 

9  Kinds  of  business  represented  by  182  office  positions 

which  made  use  of  neither  stenography  nor  book- 
keeping. Held  by  workers  trained  in  one  or  both  of. 
these  subjects.  110 

10  Analysis   of   182    office  positions  which  made  use  of 

neither  stenography  nor  bookkeeping.  Held  by 
workers  trained  in  one  or  both  of  these  subjects.  Ill 


LIST  OF  TABLES 

(CONTINUED) 

TABI,E  PAGE 

11  Numbers  of  stenographic,  bookkeeping  and  other  office 

workers  employed  in  five  business  houses  of  Cleve- 
land, O.  115 

12  Office  positions  held  by  untrained  boys  14  to  18  years 

of  age  inclusive.  135 

13  Office  positions  held  by  untrained  girls  14  to  18  years 

of  age  inclusive.  139 

14  Office  positions  held  by  boys  14  to  18  years  of  age  in- 

clusive, who  have  had  commercial  training.  141 

15  Office  positions  held  by  girls  14  to  18  years  of  age  in- 

clusive, who  have  had  commercial  training.  142 


LIST  OF  DIAGRAMS 

PAGE 

I    Use  of  stenography  and  bookkeeping  in  1641  office  posi  - 

tions  held  by  1035  trained  workers.  50 

II  Duration  of  employment.  Study  of  697  office  positions 
retained  less  than  six  months.  Held  by  workers  train- 
ed in  private  commercial  schools.  51 

III  Wages  in  1357  office  positions  held  by  workers  trained  in 

private  commercial  schools,  52 

IV  Ages  of  185  office  workers  trained  in  one  private  com- 

mercial school.  69 

V    Kinds  of  positions  held  by  185  office  workers  trained  in 

one  private  commercial  school.  70 

VI    Duration  of  positions  held  by  185  office  workers  trained 

in  one  private  commercial  school.  70 

VII    Wages  received  by   185   office  workers  trained  in  one 

private  commercial  school.  71 

VIII    Use  of  stenography  and  bookkeeping  in  370  office  posi- 
tions held  by  trained  boys  and  girls.  109 

IX  Use  of  stenography  and  bookkeeping  in  all  office  posi- 
tions held  by  employees  under  21  years  of  age  at  the 
Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Co. —  (September  1916).  113 


COMMITTEE  TO  INVESTIGATE  PRIVATE  COMMER- 
MERCIAL  SCHOOLS 

MRS.  SIDNEY  C.  BORG,  Chairman. 

MEMBERS* 

MRS.  HENRY  BRUERE, 

President,  League  for  Business  Opportunities  for  Women. 
GEORGE  H.  CHATFIELD, 

Assistant   Director,    Bureau   of    Attendance,    School   Census    and 

Child  Welfare,  New  York  City. 

MRS.  EDWARD  C.  HENDERSON, 

President,  United  Employment  Bureau. 

HOWARD  W.  NUDD, 

Director,  Public  Education  Association  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
MRS.  WILLIAM  W.  ROSSITER, 

Young-  Women's  Christian  Association,  National  Board. 
JOHN  R.  SHILLADY, 

Secretary,  Mayor's  Committee  on  Unemployment. 
MRS.  ALEXANDER  KOHUT, 

President,  Federated  Employment  Bureau  for  Jewish  Girls. 
MRS.  HENRY  A.  STIMSON, 

President,  Woman's  Municipal  League  of  New  York  City. 
Miss  GERTRUDE  ROBINSON-SMITH, 

President,  Vacation  Association. 
MRS.  ROSE  SOMME'RFELD, 

Resident  Director,  Clara  De  Hirsch  Home. 

LIONEL  SUTRO, 

ALBERT  SHIELS, 

Director,   Division   of    Reference   and    Research,    Department   of 
Education,  New  York  City. 

Miss  MARY  VAN  KLEECK, 

Secretary,    Committee    on    Women's    Work,    Russell    Sage  Foun- 
dation. 

ARTHUR  W.  WOLFSON, 

Principal,  Julia  Richman  High  School. 

*A   number   of   persons   included   in   this   list  have,   since  the   formation   of   the 
Committee,   become   identified   with   other   organizations. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

The  committee  desires  to  acknowledge  gratefully  the 
voluntary  aid  of  persons  and  organizations  listed  below. 
Most  of  the  persons  whose  services  were  received,  helped 
in  the  interviews  with  public  school  children.  Miss  Grace 
Speir,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Ward  and  Mrs.  Edgar  Strakosch  contrib- 
uted time  in  especially  generous  measure.  The  organiza- 
tions permitted  the  investigation  freedom  to  use  their  files, 
aided  in  giving  an  English  test  to  graduates  of  commercial 
schools  who  came  to  them  as  applicants  for  employment, 
or  contributed  office  facilities  and  clerical  help.  In  addition  to 
voluntary  aid,  the  investigation  had  the  assistance  of  Miss 
Jeannette  Eaton  in  field  work. 


%  VOLUNTARY  HELPERS 

Miss  FLORENCE  BLOCH, 

Superintendent,  Federated  Employment  Bureau  for  Jewish  Girls.* 

Miss  IDA  CARPENTER, 
Greenwich  House. 

Miss  GERTRUDE  GRAYDON, 

School  Visitor,  Greenwich  House.* 

MRS.  B.  STEUER, 

Emanuel  Sisterhood.* 

Miss  HARRIET  B.  LOWENSTEIN, 
Certified  Public  Accountant. 

MRS.  CORA  L,  MAGNUS, 

Local  School  Board  Member,  District  18. 

Miss  MARY  MAROT, 

Visiting   Teacher,   Public  Education  Association  of   the   City  of 
New  York. 

MRS.   SlGMUND  POLLITZER, 

Local  School  Board  Member,  District  13. 

*Now  associated  with  another  organization. 

9 


Miss  GRACE  SPEIR, 

Director,  Vacation  War  Relief  Employment  Bureau.* 

MRS.  EDGAR  STRAKOSCH, 

Director,  Federated  Employment  Bureau  for  Jewish  Girls.* 

Miss  EDITH  ISOBEL  THAIN, 

Local  School  Board  Member.  District  15. 

MRS.  J.  S.  WARD, 

League  of  Business  Opportunities  for  Women. 


CO-OPERATING  ORGANIZATIONS 

ALLIANCE  EMPLOYMENT  BUREAU 

BUREAU  OF  ATTENDANCE,  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 

EXTENSION  ROOMS  FOR  COMMERCIAL  WORKERS 

FEDERATED  EMPLOYMENT  BUREAU  FOR  JEWISH  GIRLS 

HUDSON  GUILD 

METROPOLITAN  LIFE  INSURANCE  COMPANY 

PUBLIC  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  BUREAU  (CITY) 

STATE  PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  BUREAU 

VACATION  WAR  RELIEF  EMPLOYMENT  BUREAU 

YOUNG  WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION 

YOUNG  WOMEN'S  HEBREW  ASSOCIATION 


*Now  associated  with  another  organization. 

10 


FORE-WORD. 

TO  THE  PUBLIC: 

The  beginning  of  the  European  War  manifested  itself 
almost  immediately  in  the  disorganization  created  among 
the  working  classes.  Hundreds  of  applicants  for  work  ap- 
peared, women  never  before  thrown  on  their  own  resources 
suddenly  rinding  themselves  forced  to  earn  a  livelihood. 
Out  of  the  chaos  a  few  glaring  facts  presented  themselves 
and  obtruded  as  a  real  problem  on  the  community;  a  mass 
of  uneducated,  ill-equipped  women  and  girls  entering  the 
field  as  office  workers,  secretaries,  etc.  This  question  bore 
analysis,  wherein  lay  the  fault  and  how  could  this  evil  be 
remedied.  With  this  object  in  view  a  survey  of  commer- 
cial schools  was  undertaken  with  the  hope  that  the  findings 
would  appeal  to  the  understanding  public.  Girls  by  nature 
ill-equipped  for  office  work,  leaving  school  at  an  early  age, 
with  little  or  no  high-school  training  should  be  dissuaded 
from  following  a  commercial  calling.  Certain  educational 
requirements  should  be  essential  for  entering  these  schools. 
Proper  supervision  and  control  of  business  schools  should 
be  mandatory. 

This  volume  in  concise,  comprehensive  form  pictures  for 
us  the  actual  condition  of  the  pupils  in  commercial  schools 
and  the  type  of  graduates  frequently  encountered,  so  handi- 
capped by  lack  of  proper  academic  foundation  as  to  make 
progress  and  advancement  in  their  line  of  work  almost  im- 
possible. By  raising  the  standards  and  demanding  higher 
qualifications  for  entrance  to  the  business  schools  we  are 
aspiring  to  improve  economic  conditions  and  to  elevate 
the  type  of  youthful  office  workers ;  and  we  are  desirous  of 
enlisting  the  cooperation  of  the  intelligent  public  to  help 
us  in  the  realization  of  our  aims. 

MADELEINE  BORG, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee. 

11 


CHAPTER   1. 
THE  PURPOSE  AND  SCOPE  OF  THIS  STUDY. 


The  purpose  of  this  study  has  been  to  find  out  some  of 
the  causes  which  produce,  in  New  York  City,  a  large 
number  of  unemployable  stenographers;  and  to  make 
recommendations  of  a  fundamental  sort.  The  primary 
concern  of  the  study  has  been,  not  the  schools,  but  the 
workers. 


A  seventeen  year  old  girl  came  into  the  City  Public  Em- 
ployment Bureau,  bringing  with  her  a  card  of  introduction 
from  a  prominent  institution.  The  card  read,  "Introducing 
Miss  Sarah  Levine,  a  stenographer  who  is  beginning  her 
business  life.  I  think  she  would  make  good  if  given  an 
opportunity.  Can  you  help  her  start?"  Here  was  a  present- 
able looking  girl  with  an  encouraging  introduction.  On 
the  employment  director's  desk  lay  an  employer's  call  for  a 
stenographer  who  would  be  taken  on  trial,  at  first,  in  tem- 
porary work.  It  was  a  good  opening  with  the  possibility 
of  permanency. 

Usually  the  City  Public  Employment  Bureau  sent  new 
applicants  to  a  central  office  to  be  given  an  efficiency  and 
capacity  test ;  but  the  employer  was  in  a  hurry,  and  the  girl 
was  at  hand.  By  way  of  compromise  the  employment  di- 
rector decided  to  give  her  a  brief  test,  himself.  The  short 
letter  he  then  dictated  we  reproduce  here,  showing  the 
false  starts  she  made,  as  well  as  the  completed  final  sheet. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  this  stenographer  was  not, 
in  the  end,  referred  to  the  position. 


12 


FIRST  ATTEMPT— ALTHOUGH  MISS  L.  HAD  BEEN  SHOWN  WHERE 
CARBON  PAPER  WAS  KEPT,  SHE  USED  LETTER  HEAD,  AND  THE 
WRONG  LETTER  HEAD,  FOR  THE  SECOND  SHEET. 

Mr 


~e     York,  New  York 

SECOND   ATTEMPT— WRONG   LETTER   HEAD.      LETTER   HEAD,    UP- 
SIDE DOWN,  USED  FOR  SECOND  SHEET. 

<= New  York,      H.  Y.,    July,  ^28,1916. 

Mr.  Joyn,  ANderson. 

131,  Eat.  23rd  £ 
Wait^  Association  forLabor  legislation 

THIRD    AND    LAST    ATTEMPT— MISS    L.  SUBMITTED    THIS    AFTER 

21    MINUTES    AND    THEN   ASKED    TO    BE  ALLOWED    TO    WRITE    IT 
AGAIN. 

Hew  York.  H.  I.  July,  28,  1916. 

Mr.  John  8.  Anderson. 

131  EAst  23rd  ST. 

Wait  seociation  for  Labor  Legislation. 

the  bearer  Mise  WMMM  Levine.  reokomended  to  me  by  Mr. «•••••• 

of  owMMMir  Settlement.  She  is  not  a  graduate  from  MMMK' School 
but  baa  attended  iir'for  six  months  and  feels  as  She  is  competent*  She 
has  not  been  previously  employed  and,  -I  therefore  intended  to  send  her 
direct  to  the  "Thade  Extention  Roomirrfor  test  and  rate.  Howevera  as  you 
aek  me  to  be  sure  and  send  you  some  one  on  trial  and  temporary  work  to-day 
0  I  will  give  her  the  opportunity  and  o  also  that  she  may  be  able  to  do 
Ohe  work  and  satisfy  your  present  need. 

One  may  well  be  sorry  for  the  employer  who  has  to  be 
annoyed  with  girls  like  this  one,  or  for  the  employment 
director  who  has  to  take  the  responsibility  for  placing 
them;  but  one  should  be  most  sorry  for  the  girl  herself. 
She  had  probably  worked  hard  at  her  stenographic  train- 
ing, and  she  had  spent  money  that  may  have  cost  consider- 
able sacrifice.  When  she  came  seeking  her  first  position, 
fortified  with  the  introductory  card,  no  doubt  she  thought 
she  really  was  a  stenographer,  and  that  the  reward  of  her 
work  and  sacrifice  was  at  hand.  Instead,  she  was  to  learn 
that  she  could  not  give  satisfaction;  that  positions  were  to 
be  found  with  difficulty,  and  that  when  she  did  secure  them 
they  were  soon  to  be  lost,  because  she  could  not  make  good. 

tCorrect  form,  Mr.  John  B.  Andrews,  American  Association  for  Labor  Legisla- 
tion. 

'Correct  form,  Trade  Extension  Rooms. 

13 


There  are  many  hundreds  of  young  office  workers  in 
New  York  City  of  the  calibre  of  this  girl.  Employers,  em- 
ployment bureaus  and  social  agencies  know  it.  Many  of 
them  have,  in  their  files,  first  hand  evidence  of  the  quality 
of  the  work  which  these  young  people  offer.  And,  many 
girls,  like  this  girl,  have  attended  commercial  schools  for 
a  period  approximating  six  months  and,  at  the  end  of  that 
time,  have  left  whether  graduated  or  not.  To  inquire  into 
the  causes  which  produce  the  city's  host  of  incapable  steno- 
graphic workers,  and  to  recommend  fundamental  changes, 
the  present  survey  was  made. 

The  field  of  the  survey  covers  private  commercial  schools 
of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  The  effort  has  been  made  to 
learn  something  of  all  the  schools,  and  to  select  for  direct, 
detailed  investigation  those  schools  which  are  largely  pat- 
ronized by  children  of  elementary  school  preparation.  There 
are  about  thirty  schools  of  this  class.  As  a  preliminary 
step,  we  desired  to  get  an  appreciation  of  the  situation  from 
many  angles.  Interviews,  seventy-six  in  number,  were  held 
therefore  with  the  following  persons : 

Public  Education  Officials,  State  and  City. 

Principals   and   Teachers   in   Public   Commercial    Schools,   New 

York  City. 
Directors    of    Various    Private    Organizations    Concerned    with 

Education.     (Local,  state  and  national.) 
Former  Managers  of  Private  Commercial  Schools  in  New  York 

City. 
Persons  in  Charge  of  Commercial  Instruction  in  Philanthropic 

Institutions  in  New  York  City. 
Officers    and    members    of    Associations    Seeking    to    Raise    the 

Standard  of  Commercial  Education. 
The  Conductor  of  Tests  for  a  Typewriter  Agency. 
Employers  of  Young  Office  Workers. 
Representatives  of  the  Stenographers'  Union. 

With  a  view  to  securing  names  or  records  of  girls  and 
boys  who  had  attended  private  commercial  schools  of  Man- 
hattan and  the  Bronx,  an  examination  was  made  of  the  files 
of  fifteen  public  and  private  organizations,  ten  of  which 

14 


were  employment  bureaus.  Through  the  aid  of  these  or- 
ganizations we  were  able  to  get  specific  information  con- 
cerning 1,682  young  people,  under  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
who  have  gone  out  from  private  commercial  schools  of  Man- 
hattan and  the  Bronx  since  1913.  Some  of  this  information 
was  in  the  form  of  occupational  records;  some  was  in  the 
form  of  specimen  letters  written  by  applicants ;  and,  in  other 
cases,  the  information  came  through  our  home  or  office 
interviews  with  girls  and  boys  whose  names  and  addresses 
the  organizations  had  supplied.  For  each  succeeding  chap- 
ter we  have  shown,  in  a  foot  note,  the  specific  data  upon 
which  the  information  and  conclusions  of  that  chapter  are 
based. 

This  study  started  with  a  question,  not  a  conclusion. 
The  employment  bureaus  of  New  York  City  have  a  large 
demand  for  stenographers;  and  they  have  a  large  supply 
of  candidates  for  stenographic  work.  But  calls  go  unfilled 
because  the  applicants  are  unsuitable,  incompetent,  or  inade- 
quately trained.  The  question  is,  what  causes  this  situa- 
tion? A  complete  answer  could  be  approached  by  an  ex- 
amination of  every  training  center  in  New  York  City — 
private,  parochial,  philanthropic,  public.  This  study  has 
made  a  start  by  covering  the  private  schools.  But,  let  it 
be  remembered  that,  in  making  this  study,  there  has  been  no 
predisposition  against  any  private  school.  The  primary 
concern  has  been  not  the  schools,  but  the  workers.  There 
are  several  private  commercial  schools  in  New  York  City, 
some  large  and  some  small,  which  are  clearly  contributing 
to  the  city's  needs ;  and  to  these  the  unfavorable  generaliza- 
tions of  this  report  do  not  apply. 


15 


CHAPTER  2. 
A  GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  SCHOOLS. 


Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  have  67  private  commercial 
schools.  In  a  group  of  40,  which  includes  all  the 
larger  schools,  the  day  registration  in  the  course  of  a 
year  approximates  7,000;  the  night  6,000.  Girls  make 
up  85%  of  day  and  60%  of  night  registration. 

Most  students  are  15  and  16  years  of  age  and  are  grad- 
uates of  elementary  schools;  most  of  them  take  a  course 
which  includes  stenography  and  bookkeeping,  lasts  six 
or  seven  months  and  costs  $10  a  month. 

Few  teachers  have  had  normal  training.  No  normal 
training  in  specific  commercial  subjects  is  available. 
Most  teachers  conduct  classes  day  and  night. 

Most  schools  try  to  find  their  graduates'  first  positions; 
but  a  number  of  them  accept  for  graduates  a  wage  of  $5 
or  $6  or  place  them  in  clerical  positions  which  do  not 
make  use  of  their  stenographic  training. 

There  is  little  rivalry  between  private  and  public  com- 
mercial schools;  but  the  competition  among  private 
schools  is  active  and  sometimes  unscrupulous. 

Private  schools  sometimes  close  suddenly,  with  little  or 
no  warning  to  pupils.  This  was  true  of  three  schools 
in  Manhattan  last  year. 

Private  commercial  schools  have  been  the  discoverers 
and  pathfinders  in  commercial  education.  They  antedate 
public  commercial  schools  or  courses  in  New  York  City 
by  37  years. 


This  investigation  has  learned  of  sixty-seven  private 
schools  for  business  training,  located  in  Manhattan  and  the 
Bronx.  This  number  does  not  include  schools  maintained 
by  charitable  and  religious  interests.  These  sixty-seven 

Chapter  2  is  based  upon  the  following  data: 

Direct  investigation  of  31  private  commercial  schools,  detailed  records  being  made 
of  observations,  and  of  interviews  with  the  managers  or  principals.  Two  visits 
or  more  to  all  schools  except  the  smallest.  Study  of  the  catalogs  of  these  31 
schools  with  reference  to  course  of  study,  cost,  etc. 

Records  of  visits  made  by  Bureau  of  Attendance  to  40  private  commercial 
schools. 

Lists  of  private  commercial  schools — published  in  Patterson's  directories,  Trow  s 
directories,  Telephone  Red  Books,  and  the  directory  of  the  Educational  Aid 

Interviews,  with  workers,  with  regard  to  the  quality  of  instruction  at  the 
private  commercial  schools  which  they  attended.  Records  made,  in  detail. 

Interviews  with  students  and  other  persons  regarding  the  character  of  three 
schools  which  closed  suddenly.  Records  made,  in  detail. 

16 


schools  are  spread  over  a  wide  area;  yet  they  are  centered, 
to  some  extent,  as  follows: 

Vicinity  of  City  Hall 

Lower  East  Side 

Central  Manhattan 

Vicinity  of  125th  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue 

Tremont 

There  are  a  few  scattered  schools  not  included  in  this  group- 
ing. Two  divergent  objectives  in  location  are  easily  dis- 
cernible— one  to  place  the  school  in  the  heart  of  a  business 
section  with  a  view  to  giving  the  impression  of  close  touch 
with  business  and  for  the  sake  of  placement  relations  with 
employers;  and  one  to  place  it  in  a  neighborhood  of  the 
sort  of  homes  from  which  the  school  will  expect  to  draw  its 
pupils. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  find  any  complete  information 
about  the  number  of  boys  and  girls  educated  annually  by 
private  commercial  schools.  From  the  Bureau  of  Attend- 
ance, whose  agents  visited  private  schools  in  the  fall  of  1916, 
we  have  figures  for  day  and  night  registration  at  forty 
commercial  schools  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  The 
schools  which  were  not  reported  upon  are  known  to  be  the 
smaller  ones.  The  aggregate  for  day  pupils,  both  boys  and 
girls,  is  4,516  and  for  night  pupils  4,063.  Among  day  pupils, 
girls  made  up  85  per  cent ;  among  night  pupils,  60  per  cent. 
The  maximum  registration  for  a  single  school  is  550.  These 
figures  do  not,  however,  represent  the  year's  total,  because 
nearly  all  private  schools  have  at  least  two  shifts  in  a  year's 
time  and  many  schools  have  more  than  two.  In  the  case  of 
schools  which  have  two  shifts  it  is  generally  true  that  the 
second  or  summer  shift  is  only  two-thirds  to  one-half  the 
size  of  the  fall  and  winter  shift.  But  the  shifts  are  over- 
lapping rather  than  consecutive.  We  believe  it  is  a  con- 

17 


servative  estimate  to  say  that  the  number  of  day  pupils 
registered  at  these  forty  private  commercial  schools  during 
the  past  year  was  7,000,  and  the  number  of  night  pupils  was 
6,000.* 

SCHOOLS  GROUPED  ACCORDING  TO  TYPES.* 

From  the  sixty-seven  private  commercial  schools  of  Man- 
hattan and  the  Bronx,  we  have  selected  thirty-one  for 
special  investigation.  These  selected  schools  include  all 
the  larger  ones,  those  which  are  most  active  in  soliciting 
eighth  grade  pupils  in  the  public  schools,  and  those  which 
offer  special  inducements  in  time  or  cost.  Schools  for  ex- 
perts and  those  which  could  not  be  entered  by  inexperienced 
graduates  from  the  public  schools,  we  have  not  included. 
Judged  by  general  standards  of  efficiency  and  reliability 
our  thirty-one  investigated  schools  seem  to  fall  into  five 
groups,  thus :  Group  I,  made  up  of  schools  superior  in  their 
equipment  and  in  the  calibre  of  their  teaching  force  and 
students;  Group  II,  representing  competent  schools  which 
have  good  equipment  and  good  teachers  but  students  of 
varied  types,  less  discriminatingly  selected  than  in  the  case 
of  the  foregoing  group;  Group  III,  schools  cheap  in  equip- 
ment, personnel  and  methods  of  advertising,  and  caring 
more  for  speed  and  numbers  than  for  individual  excellence ; 
Group  IV,  made  up  of  schools  of  low  standard,  whose 
meagre  equipment  and  dirty,  neglected  classrooms  cannot 
expect  to  do  more  than  prepare  students  to  enter  low 
grade  positions;  Group  V,  representing  schools  which  are 
unscrupulous  in  their  dealings  with  their  students  or  the  pub- 
lic. In  educational  facilities  the  schools  of  Group  V  are  similar 
to  the  schools  of  Groups  III  or  IV.  The  methods  they  employ 
are  set  forth  in  Chapters  4  and  5. 

*In  1916,  1,687  pupils  were  graduated  from  commercial  courses  in  the  High 
Schools  of  New  York  City.  This  figure  does  not  include  persons  who  took 
commercial  subjects  in  academic  courses 

*For  number  of  schools  included  in  each  group  see  Table  4,  page  33. 

18 


It  is  possible  that  the  characteristics  of  these  groups 
may  be  more  clearly  recognized  if  some  quotations  are 
made  from  the  visitor's  recorded  impressions  of  schools  and 
managers : 

SCHOOLS  OF  GROUP  I. 

This  school  is  as  impressive  in  its  dignity  and  beauty 
as  many  private  academic  schools  are  .  .  .  One 
has  a  feeling  that  educational  purpose  and  high  busi- 
ness ideals  are  as  important  to  the  school  as  the  suc- 
cess of  its  commercial  enterprise.  It  gives  the  im- 
pression of  being,  if  not  keenly  alive  to  changing 
demands  in  business,  at  least  well  deserving  of  its 
established  reputation  for  thoroughness  and  quality. 

The  distinction  of  this  school  seems  to  be  its  careful 
training  of  pupils,  its  high  minimum  wage  and  the 
confident  assurance  of  success  which  lifts  it  above  the 
level  of  unscrupulous  or  undignified  competition.  It 
impressed  the  visitor  as  a  good,  wide-awake  business 
school  wherein  students  could  find  efficient,  special- 
ized training;  but  there  was  no  discernible  atmos- 
phere of  idealism  or  general  educational  interest. 

SCHOOLS  OF  GROUP  II. 

The  chief  asset  of  the  school  is  the  personality  of  the 
principal  and  the  shorthand  teacher.  This  was  shown 
in  their  wholesome,  dignified  appearance,  their 
earnestness  in  dealing  with  the  pupils,  and  their 
direct  and  intelligent  discussion  of  school  matters 
with  the  visitor.  The  place  was  clean  and  honest, 
and  one  would  not  be  afraid  to  recommend  it  to  a 
poor  young  person  in  search  of  specific  training. 

The  proprietor,  a  scholarly  looking  man,  said  he  had 
heard  of  this  investigation  and  proceeded  to  ask  a 
few  direct  and  very  reasonable  questions  regarding 
its  method  and  purpose.  He  is  a  man  of  intelligence 

19 


and  culture,  and  well  informed  in  matters  relating 
to  education  generally.  The  admirable  organization 
and  equipment  of  his  own  school  are  evidence  of  his 
standards.  One  wondered  why,  with  all  this,  so  few 
students  of  maturity  or  more  than  elementary  edu- 
cation were  attracted  to  it. 


SCHOOLS  OF  GROUP  III. 

This  is  a  small,  makeshift  sort  of  a  school,  crowded 
into  a  few  rooms  on  the  second  floor  of  a  store  build- 
ing. Two  distinct  impressions  came  to  the  visitor  at 
once :  the  cheap  character  of  the  school  and  the  plaus- 
ible, intelligent  discussion  of  the  principal,  who  is 
quick-minded  and  very  alert  to  the  investigator's 
point  of  view.  If  the  principal  practised  his  ideas,  the 
school  ought  to  be  a  fine  thing — which  it  does  not 
appear  to  be.  The  whole  enterprise  seemed  shoddy, 
as  if  undercapitalized. 

The  school  in  general,  gives  the  impression  of  living 
by  its  wits  and  of  being  "up  to  the  minute"  in  new 
methods  and  new  ideas  in  commercial  education  and 
in  its  policy  of  adaptability  to  conditions;  but  it 
seemed  to  spread  itself  too  thin.  We  did  think,  how- 
ever, that  the  purpose  of  the  school  is  to  be  frankly 
honest  in  all  its  representations. 


SCHOOLS  OF  GROUP  IV. 

The  first  reaction  was  that  nothing  good  could  be 
said  of  the  school.  It  seemed  to  be  making  its  money 
by  fitting  low  grade  pupils  for  low  grade  positions, 
and  to  be  doing  this  in  the  kindly  guise  of  working 
for  the  good  of  the  young  and  for  the  promotion  of 
efficiency.  The  manager  had  an  air  of  fatherly  kind- 
ness and  showed  a  certain  subtlety  in  giving  all  the 
right  answers.  But,  before  the  visit  was  over,  the 

20 


investigator  was  impressed  with  the  relation  of  good 
will  existing  between  teachers  and  pupils ;  and,  also, 
she  felt  that  the  degree  of  attention  the  teachers  se- 
cured was  a  thing  to  be  commended. 

The  emphasis  of  the  school's  advertising  and  the  re- 
marks of  the  principal  lead  one  to  suppose  that  this 
school  considers  itself  a  sort  of  social  center  or  settle- 
ment for  its  foreign  neighbors.  In  conversation  the 
principal  seemed  intelligent,  very  much  in  earnest 
and  alert  to  general  questions  of  commercial  educa- 
tion ;  but  the  dark,  dingy  classrooms  and  the  untidy 
children  who  rilled  them  seemed  to  tell  a  different 
story. 

In  Table  1  which  follows  we  have  gathered  together,  ac- 
cording to  the  groups  just  described,  some  of  the  more  im- 
portant things  required  and  offered  by  the  several  schools. 
The  information  here  given  was  obtained  from  printed 
catalogs  or  by  interviews  with  proprietors  or  principals  of 
the  schools.  One  school  offers  a  much  shorter  period  of 
instruction  (one  and  one-half  months)  and  another  school 
a  much  lower  cost  of  instruction  ($35)  than  anything  indi- 
cated by  the  table.  We  are  unable  to  include  this  informa- 
tion in  the  tabulation  because  in  so  doing  we  should  reveal 
these  schools'  identity. 


TABLE  1  :      SUMMARY  OF  WHAT  IS  REQUIRED  AND  OFFERED  BY 
31  SCHOOLS,  MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX. 


Group 

Age 
of  Majority 
of  Pupils 

Academic 
Preparation  of 
Majority  of 
Pupils 

Range  of 
Usual  Period 
of  Instruction 

Cost  Range 
for  Usual 
Course  of 
Instruction 

No.  of 
Schools 
which 
Guarantee 
Positions 

I 

16-20  years 

Some  H.  S.  Ed. 

6-10  mos. 

$60-$180 

None 

II 

15-17  years 

8th  grade 

3-  8  mos. 

55-     65 

None 

III 

15-17  years 

8th  grade 

3-  7  mos. 

45-     65 

5 

IV 

15-16  years 

8th  grade 

6-  Indefinite 

48-     55 

2 

V 

(Information  included  by  Groups  III  and  IV.) 

21 


THE  STUDENTS. 

The  usual  age  of  students  is  from  fifteen  to  seventeen 
years,  the  greater  number  being  not  older  than  fifteen.  This 
means  that  few  are  old  enough  to  have  had  more  than  a 
year  or  two  of  high  school  education ;  and  the  large  majority 
have  not  passed  beyond  the  elementary  schools.  Com- 
menting upon  this  point  one  principal  said,  "Fifteen  or 
twenty  years  ago  the  age  of  all  pupils  in  private  business 
schools  was  much  more  advanced,  and  a  girl  under  eighteen 
or  nineteen  was  an  exception.  But  now  the  tendency  is  to 
take  young  people  into  an  office  at  a  much  earlier  age  be- 
cause office  work  has  been  so  reduced  to  routine,  by  the  in- 
troduction of  efficiency  methods,  that  young  and  inexperi- 
enced girls  without  much  education  can  be  valuable."  The 
idea  expressed  in  this  opinion  is  discussed  in  Chapter  6. 
None  of  the  schools  investigated  requires  high  school  grad- 
uation for  entrance;  one  school  insists  upon  some  high 
school  education  and  makes  an  effort  to  get  graduates; 
and  all  other  schools,  except  three,  require  elementary 
graduation.  More  than  half  the  thirty-one  investigated 
schools  recruit  their  entire  enrollment  from  elementary 
school  graduates  immediately  or  soon  after  graduation ;  the 
remainder  of  schools  have  a  mixture  of  pupils  who  have 
preparation  ranging  from  eighth  grade  to  second  year  high 
school — although,  even  here,  the  majority  enrollment  is  of 
eighth  grade  pupils.  Three  schools  admit  the  acceptance 
of  pupils  who  have  less  than  eighth  grade  preparation,  we 
have  said,  but  they  claim  that  such  pupils  are  a  small 
minority. 

When  asked  about  the  policy  of  admitting  students  to 
the  school,  managers  and  principals  seemed  ready  to  discuss 
the  matter  with  unreserved  frankness.  Six  schools  asserted 
that  they  never  refused  admission  on  the  ground  of  unfit- 
ness,  provided  the  requirements  in  age  and  school  grade 
were  met.  Only  two  schools  claimed  to  give  any  sort  of 

22 


formal  entrance  examination.  The  attitude  of  the  few  best 
schools  is  summarized  in  the  statements  of  the  first  two 
principals  quoted  below;  but  the  three  statements  that  fol- 
low represent  the  attitude  of  most  of  the  schools. 

1.  "Undoubtedly,    many    pupils    choose    this    work 
wrongly,  as  is  proved  by  their  after-experience; 
but  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  tell  this  at  the  time 
they  enter  upon  it.    There  are  all  grades  of  office 
work,  and  we  expect  to  prepare  pupils  for  any 
one  of  them;  but  we  always  take  pupils  on  pro- 
bation one  month,  and  in  the  course  of  a  year  we 
reject  a  number  of  them." 

2.  "We  always  take  pupils  on  trial;  and,  after  one 
month,  it  is  possible  to  tell  whether  they  will  be 
successful  or  not.     No  honest  school  would  pre- 
tend that  it  could  find  this  out  at  the  beginning  by 
testing  pupils.    If  a  pupil  proves  unable  to  do  the 
work,   the  parents   are   informed   of   it,   and  the 
money  paid  in  is  refunded  except  enough  to  cover 
the  expense  of  stationery  and  supplies  used." 

3.  "We  do  not  turn  pupils  away.    We  make  what  we 
can  of  them.     Sometimes  we  can  only  fit  them 
for  the  lowest  grades  of  work,  but,  in  so  doing, 
we  save  them  from  the  factory  or  the  shop." 

4.  "If  I  don't  take  their  money,  some  one  else  will, 
and  perhaps  I  can  do  a  better  thing  for  them  than 
some  other  school  can." 

5.  "I  do  not  believe  in  fixed  requirements,  I  think 
every  pupil  ought  to  have  a  chance;  and,  by  our 
individual  system  of  instruction,  we  find  out  ex- 
actly what   a  pupil  is  worth.     Like  a  business 
house,  we  take  them  on  trial.    If  they  cannot  suc- 
ceed, we  tell  their  parents.     No,  not  many  are 
dropped  in  this  way.     Almost  every  one  can  do 
something  in  the  business  world.     If  they  leave 
after  a  trial,  of  course  we  charge  for  the  month. 
It  should  not  be  our  risk." 

23 


The  question  of  refunding  money  does  not  seem  to  the 
schools  a  serious  one;  for  in  the  majority  of  cases  advance 
payments  are  made  from  month  to  month  only,  so  that  a 
pupil  who  drops  out  because  of  inability  to  succeed  loses  no 
more  than  a  month's  tuition  and  probably  less  than  that. 
The  fact  remains,  however,  that  some  schools  which  do 
not  allow  a  refund  offer  a  slight  reduction  for  the  payment 
of  three  months'  tuition  or  more  in  advance.  If  pupils  who 
have  entered  into  this  arrangement  drop  out,  their  loss  is 
considerable;  but,  in  order  to  avoid  loss,  they  are  likely  to 
continue  in  school  even  though  they  are  not  profiting  from 
the  instruction. 

The  types  of  pupils  who  make  up  the  enrollment  of  the 
private  schools  are  too  various  for  generalization ;  yet  with- 
in the  groups  described  above  there  is  a  degree  of  similarity. 
Thus,  some  idea  of  the  types  can  be  given  by  quoting 
briefly  from  the  records  those  impressions  which  are  typical : 

The  pupils  were  pleasing  to  the  visitor's  observation. 
They  seemed  bright,  attractive  young  people  who 
came,  apparently,  from  favored  homes.  Many  of 
them  were  mature.  It  is  probable  that  they  would, 
on  the  whole,  be  acceptable  and  competent  in  a 
business  office.  The  concentration  of  the  class  was 
marked. — A  School  of  Group  I. 

They  were  a  good-looking  group — clean  and  of  at 
least  average  intelligence.  They  were  simply,  but 
well  dressed,  and  appeared  to  represent  comfort- 
able circumstances.  But  many  of  them  looked  too 
young  for  wage  earning. — A  School  of  Group  II. 

The  students  were  observed  as  they  came  from  the 
school  at  dismissal.  We  saw  a  colorless  stream  of 
youngsters,  sent,  one  would  say,  from  financially 
struggling  homes.  There  may  have  been  a  num- 
ber of  foreigners  among  them,  but  the  effect  was 
of  a  group  of  American-born  children,  with  Ameri- 
can traditions. — A  School  of  Group  HI. 

24 


Children  of  fourteen,  fifteen  and  sixteen  years.  While 
they  looked  bright  and  responsive  in  the  casual 
glance  allowed  the  visitor,  the  majority  of  them 
were  poorly  dressed  and  not  clean,  and  there  was 
something  about  them  that  seemed  to  betray  the  fact 
that  a  large  portion  of  their  lives  was  spent  in  the 
New  York  streets.  Most  of  them  appeared  to  be 
foreign  born  or  of  foreign  parentage. — A  School  of 
Group  IV. 

THE  TEACHING  FORCE. 

If  the  ideal  preparation  for  a  commercial  teacher  is  a 
combination  of  academic  education  (high  school  or  college), 
pedagogical  training,  technical  training  in  the  subject  he  is 
to  teach,  and  practical  experience  in  business,  it  might  be 
hard  to  find  many  ideal  teachers.  Only  one  school  of  those 
visited  claimed  insistence  upon  normal  school  training. 
Very  few  schools  consider  experience  in  business  a  requisite 
qualification.  A  number  of  schools  state  that  they  employ 
as  teachers  only  those  who  have  at  least  a  high  school 
diploma.  In  the  schools  of  Groups  I  and  II  and  in  some 
other  schools,  teachers  who  are  college  or  university  gradu- 
ates may  be  found.  In  these  groups  and  in  Group  III  there 
are  a  few  principals  and  teachers  who  have  written  texts; 
or  who  are  prominent  in  associations  seeking  to  raise  the 
standard  of  commercial  education.  By  contrast,  in  schools 
of  Groups  III  and  IV  there  are  evidences  of  actual  illiteracy 
in  the  managerial  or  teaching  force.  An  example  of  this 
was  given  by  the  principal  who  said,  "We  can  boast  on 
our  school."  Managers  claim  that  it  is  difficult  to  get  good 
teachers.  The  sources  commonly  used  are  commercial 
agencies,  the  typewriter  companies  and  lists  of  their  own 
graduates.  There  is  considerable  interchange  of  teachers 
among  private  commercial  schools,  as  this  chapter  demon- 
strates later;  there  is  less  interchange  between  public  and 
private  schools.  Two  of  the  schools  visited  make  a  specialty 

25 


of  giving  training  to  teachers.  They  offer,  however,  not 
pedagogy  but  intensive  work  in  the  subjects  that  are  to  be 
taught.  Commercial  school  teachers  learn,  as  a  rule,  by 
doing.  It  is  in  the  best  schools  that  the  older,  more  experi- 
enced teachers  are  found.  One  large  school  reports  that  it 
has  no  teacher  in  its  employ  who  has  been  at  the  school 
fewer  than  fourteen  years.  This,  of  course,  is  an  exceptional 
situation.  In  the  whole  body  of  schools  there  are  more 
young  teachers  than  middle  aged  ones,  and  more  men 
teachers  than  women. 

The  teachers  in  private  commercial  schools  must  expect 
night  classes  as  well  as  day  ones.  The  situation  is  relieved 
in  a  few  schools  by  requiring  the  day  teachers  to  be  on  duty 
the  first  part  of  the  evening  only  and  employing  extra 
teachers  to  care  for  the  latter  part.  One  school  reports  that 
it  uses  the  services  of  its  day  force  only  three  nights  a 
week  and  that  extra  teachers  take  charge  of  the  other  two 
nights.  Nearly  all  teachers  have  "year  'round"  engage- 
ments ;  however,  as  a  rule,  their  afternoons  after  one  o'clock 
are  free  in  summer.  The  minority  have  Christmas  or  Easter 
vacations  for  the  period  allowed  by  the  public  schools.  It 
has  been  impossible  to  learn  much  about  salaries;  but 
schools  have  corroborated  one  another  in  saying  that  $25  a 
week  is  considered  by  most  teachers  "good  pay." 

COURSES  OF  STUDY. 

Nearly  all  the  thirty-one  schools  visited,  except  those 
established  for  specialized  work,  offer  three  courses :  Sten- 
ography, Bookkeeping  (also  called  Accounting,  Business, 
or  Commercial  Course)  and  the  "Secretarial"  course.  The 
Stenography  course  is,  in  a  few  cases,  concerned  with  short- 
hand and  typing  only.  More  commonly  it  includes  spelling, 
penmanship  and  business  forms — or  some  other  form  of 
English  teaching.  In  the  minority  of  schools,  it  includes 
office  practice,  legal  forms  and  filing.  One  school  adds 

26 


mental  arithmetic.  The  Bookkeeping  course  may  be  book- 
keeping only,  with  perhaps  some  drill  in  rapid  calculation. 
More  commonly,  it  includes  banking,  commercial  arith- 
metic and  penmanship.  The  minority  of  schools  offer 
commercial  law,  office  practice  and  English  in  connection 
with  the  Bookkeeping  course.  The  Secretarial  course  as- 
sumes its  title  in  some  schools,  no  doubt,  because  other 
schools  use  it.  No  school  wants  to  lose  patrons  because 
of  the  omission  of  this  fine-sounding  name.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  a  real  secretarial  course  preparing  mature  pupils 
of  good  general  education  for  work  of  special  responsibility, 
is  offered  in  only  three  of  these  schools.  The  so-called 
"Secretarial"  course  is  really,  in  most  cases,  a  combination 
of  the  Stenography  and  Bookkeeping  courses;  and  anyone 
admitted  to  the  school  is  considered  eligible  to  take  it.  Two 
schools  give  a  secretarial  course  which  might  more  appro- 
priately be  named  "clerical  assistant."  This  includes  neither 
stenography  nor  bookkeeping,  but  is  concerned  with  office 
practice,  filing  and  penmanship.  In  any  school  of  general 
character,  most  pupils  take  the  combined  stenographic  and 
bookkeeping  course,  whether  called  "secretarial"  or  by  some 
other  name.  The  second  largest  group  take  the  stenog- 
raphy course. 

The  thirty-one  schools  divide  thus  on  the  basis  of  courses 
offered : 

TABLE    2:      COURSES    OFFERED    IN     31     PRIVATE    COMMERCIAL 
SCHOOLS  OF  MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX. 

Courses  Offered.  No.  of  Schools 

Stenography,    Bookkeeping,  "Secretarial"    Course  19 

Stenography,    Bookkeeping,  Typing 1 

Stenography,    Bookkeeping,    4 

Stenography,     Bookkeeping,  Typing,  Accounting..  1 

Stenography,  "Secretarial"  Course    1 

Stenography,    Telegraphy    1 

Shorthand,     Typing    1 

Shorthand,    Advanced  Shorthand  1 

Secretarial  Course 1 

Filing    1 

27 


When  one  private  commercial  school  principal  was  asked 
about  the  need  for  intensive  study  of  bookkeeping  in  the 
general  commercial  course,  he  said  sardonically,  "It  has  the 
value  of  holding  pupils  five  or  six  months  longer  than  they 
would  otherwise  stay.  For  my  own  part,  I  do  not  wish  to 
increase  my  income  at  unnecessary  expense  to  my  pupils. 
I  can  give  them  all  the  bookkeeping  they  need  in  a  very 
short  time — enough  to  understand  the  principles  and  to  be 
able  to  keep  simple  accounts."  Some  of  the  older  and  more 
conservative  schools  are,  conscientiously  we  are  sure,  giving 
a  large  share  of  attention  to  bookkeeping,  believing  in  its 
value  as  mental  training  and  in  its  general  practical  use.  It 
is  safe  to  say,  however,  that  in  the  majority  of  schools  book- 
keeping is  learned  from  a  long  drawn  out  text  which  carries 
the  student,  self-taught,  practically,  from  point  to  point ;  and 
that  it  is  a  time-consuming,  complicated  matter  of  difficult 
details.  The  somewhat  common  practice  of  supplying  text 
books  free  to  students  seems  to  work  out  badly  in  connec- 
tion with  the  teaching  of  bookkeeping.  In  order  to  save 
itself  expense,  a  school  may  be  using  antiquated  texts,  which 
cost  at  least  one-third  less  than  the  current  editions  and  are 
poorly  adapted  to  the  changes  in  the  bookkeeping  of  modern 
business.  If  the  purchase  of  books  were  the  pupil's  expense, 
a  school  would  not  be  tempted  to  use  any  but  the  best  and 
newest  publications. 

We  have  the  statements  of  twenty-seven  school  prin- 
cipals relative  to  the  teaching  of  English  in  stenography 
courses.  The  statements  may  be  summarized  thus : 


28 


TABLE  3  :      KIND  OF  ENGLISH  INSTRUCTION  IN  27  SCHOOLS  OF 
MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX  I 

Instruction  No.  of  Schools 

General  instruction  in  English  composition  to  all 

pupils    11 

General  instruction  in  English  composition  to  any 

pupils  who  are  not  high  school  graduates..  1 

Instruction  in  the  writing  of  business  forms. 
(Given  in  two  schools  through  the  medium 
of  occasional  lectures) 8 

No  claim  to  any  English  instruction.  (Separate 
academic  preparatory  classes  in  three 
schools  wherein  pupils  may  receive  Eng- 
lish instruction  if  they  desire.  This  given 
at  extra  cost,  except  in  one  school.) 

The  schools  which  confine  their  English  instruction  to 
"business  forms"  are,  unfortunately,  those  with  an  enroll- 
ment made  up  chiefly  of  children  whose  education  is  eighth 
grade  or  less,  and  whose  need  of  drill  in  English  structure 
and  composition  is  urgent.  One  principal  describes  the 
course  in  business  forms  thus: 

"The  students  learn  how  a  business  man  expresses 
himself  in  a  letter.  They  are  given  an  exercise  in 
writing  a  dunning  letter  to  meet  several  conditions, 
such  as  a  debtor's  inability,  unwillingness  or  negli- 
gence to  pay;  also  special  circumstances,  such  as  a 
mistake  in  a  bill,  which  prevent  immediate  settle- 
ment. We  grant  that  the  teaching  is  not  for  the 
purpose  of  providing  English  instruction  in  com- 
position, punctuation,  etc.,  but  to  impress  upon 
students  the  form  of  a  letter,  the  beginning  and 
ending,  and  the  ideas  it  means  to  convey." 

From  the  whole  description  of  the  English  work  in  this 
school,  we  should  conclude  that  it  amounts  to  nothing  as 
education  in  essentials.  Furthermore,  judging  from  the 
business  letters  referred  to  in  Chapter  3,  which  428  busi- 
ness-trained young  people  wrote  as  a  test  for  this  investi- 

29 


gation,  it  would  appear  that  the  most  obvious  result  of 
such  instruction  is  to  give  an  impression  to  students  that 
the  ideals  in  business  correspondence  are  the  omission  of 
all  first  person  pronouns  and  the  lavish  use  of  abbreviations 
for  almost  any  sort  of  word. 

INDIVIDUAL  INSTRUCTION. 

The  "individual  instruction"  commonly  advertised  by 
private  commercial  schools  is  a  method  of  teaching  which — 
good  or  bad — is  enforced  upon  the  majority  of  them.  It  is 
the  only  method  adaptable  to  a  group  of  students  uneven 
in  their  attainments  and  capacity.  It  is  true  that  the  greater 
number  of  New  York  City  schools  show  homogeneity  in 
the  general  character  of  their  students,  the  age  being  fifteen 
or  sixteen  and  the  preparation,  as  a  rule,  eighth  grade;  but 
these  students  do  not  enter  or  leave  together.  With  the 
exception  of  the  best  schools,  registration,  dropping  out 
and  graduation  go  on  all  through  the  year.  There  are,  as 
a  rule,  no  set  dates  for  beginning  and  ending.  Under  such 
conditions  strict  grading  is  impossible  and  students  must 
have  their  lessons  assigned  and  explained  individually  or 
in  very  small  groups.  Class  work,  which  is  so  rarely  pos- 
sible, has  the  advantage  of  general  discussion;  it  gives  to 
students  the  chance  to  profit  by  each  others'  mistakes  and 
to  teachers  an  opportunity  to  find  out  what  the  students 
do  not  know  or  understand.  In  the  poorer  schools,  where 
individual  instruction  is  the  only  kind  given,  students  may 
drift  along  in  a  vague,  unintelligent  way.  They  have  little 
or  no  home  work ;  and  the  written  work  done  in  class  does 
not,  students  say,  receive  a  teacher's  careful  correction.  In 
the  shorthand  and  typing  work,  however,  there  is  a  definite 
standard  by  which  a  student  can  measure  himself  at  any 
time.  That  is  his  "speed" ;  and  when  he  can  achieve  a  given 
number  of  words  a  minute  he  is  a  "finished"  person  ready 
to  be  offered  to  business.  The  best  schools  offer  a  combina- 

30 


tion  of  individual  instruction  and  class  work.  They  are 
able  to  do  this  because  the  longer  course  they  give  makes 
for  uniformity  in  beginning  and  ending,  and  only  one  shift 
of  students  can  be  completely  prepared  in  the  space  of  one 
year.  The  size  of  classes  varies  with  the  size  of  the  school. 
The  maximum  number  found  in  one  class  was  seventy-five;  a 
more  usual  number  was  forty. 

PERIOD  AND  COST  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

The  period  of  instruction,  as  shown  previously,  ranges  from 
one  and  one-half  months  to  a  year.  In  nearly  all  schools  the 
course  of  study  is  of  indeterminate  length.  Several  advertise 
three  months  or  less;  a  few  expect  to  keep  pupils  from  nine 
months  to  a  year;  for  the  majority  of  schools  the  expected 
time  is  six  months. 

The  cost  of  a  course  in  which  stenography  and  bookkeep- 
ing are  taught  varies  from  $35  to  $180,  according  to  the 
school  one  chooses.  The  majority  of  schools  charge  ten 
dollars  a  month,  and  expect  payments  to  be  made  in  advance 
monthly.  Payment  in  advance,  of  the  whole  cost  of  tuition 
or  a  considerable  part  of  it,  is  rewarded  usually  with  a  slight 
reduction  in  cost.  That  some  schools  do  not  have  a  fixed 
price  for  a  course  but  adapt  the  amount  to  what  the  stu- 
dent can  or  will  pay,  was  indicated  in  the  statements  here 
quoted.  They  are  taken  from  the  records  of  interviews  with 
girls  who  attended  schools  of  Group  IV. 

"One  of  the  curious  things  at  this  school  was  the 
way  they  charged.  Everyone  paid  different  tui- 
tion fees.  It  depended  on  how  much  they  knew 
about  how  to  make  a  bargain.  I  paid  $65,  another 
girl  paid  $40  and  another  $75,  etc.  That  struck 
me  funny — like  a  fish  counter!" 

"Some  paid  $50  or  $55,  some  $60,  some  $75.  He 
charged  according  to  family  conditions.  It  was 
the  poor  people  who  only  paid  $50  and  the  rich 
ones  $75.  Why  not?" 

31 


Most  of  the  schools  in  Groups  I  and  II  require  students 
to  purchase  text  books ;  in  most  of  those  in  Groups  III  and 
IV  text  books  are  loaned  by  the  school,  free  of  charge. 
We  have  already  referred  to  this  in  our  discussion  of  the 
teaching  of  bookkeeping. 

EQUIPMENT. 

Typical  equipment  for  instruction  in  the  majority  of 
schools  consists  of  ordinary  school  desks  with  typewriters 
of  various  manufacture.  One  school  of  the  thirty-rone 
visited,  provides  its  pupils  with  office  desks  and  cabinet 
typewriters.  In  some  schools  the  number  of  typewriters 
is  not  adequate  to  the  number  of  pupils ;  in  some  the  variety 
of  typewriters  is  insufficient;  and  in  others  there  is  such 
lack  of  room  that  pupils  are  required  to  study  or  even 
recite  in  typewriting  rooms  while  the  typewriters  are  in  use. 
In  three  schools  the  traditional  cages,  simulating  the  bank- 
ing offices  of  business,  were  found  in  use  as  a  method  of 
teaching  bookkeeping.  Office  practice  equipment  is  some- 
what meagre  except  in  one  school  which  specializes  in  it. 
Most  schools  have  none;  seven  have  small  filing  cabinets 
for  the  pupil's  instruction ;  and  a  smaller  number  have  dup- 
licators, comptometers,  adding  and  dictating  machines  or 
other  office  devices.  Not  all  schools  have  adequate  black- 
board space.  So  far  as  we  were  able  to  learn,  three  schools 
make  some  effort  to  maintain  a  commercial  library  and  two 
have  a  lantern  for  lecture  puposes.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  equipment,  generally,  is  limited,  it  can  be  said  that  there 
is  likely  to  be  an  air  of  business  and  system  even  where 
the  actual  tools  and  furniture  of  business  are  lacking;  and 
that  for  teaching  the  specific  subjects  of  stenography  and 
bookkeeping,  without  allied  subjects  or  practice  in  general 
office  routine,  the  equipment  in  most  schools  is  of  fair  ade- 
quacy. But  we  believe  that  for  a  complete  commercial 
course,  worthy  of  the  name,  the  majority  of  schools  are 
under-equipped.  The  condition  of  classrooms  and  the  na- 
ture of  the  buildings  which  house  the  schools  are  set  forth 
in  Table  4  which  follows: 

32 


u 


c3  ° 

4)    O 


•« 

co  a 


1  = 


"co- 


,-    cu  A  -w  J£ 

•-T3   co    G    O 

<        •£  J2 


•-  o  ^ 

1111° 


o 


-a 


^lg-sl§ 

§^-G-a.s 

O 


C 


App 


hoc          ^ 


IS  rt 

73       **i 

^  8  o 

0  a^ 

co  OT    o 


«    - 

-M  t+H  oj  —•  <  r3  o  3 

to         —  «          cu  '  "  O" 

2  s  ^  «  «  t,  <u 


§§  sis?  sl 

*e-a« 


a  x      S 


o  ""*  •—  ->  rt  gj"  4)       ^ 

11  =.5  1=1  = 


Class-rooms  are  dingy  and 
neglected  looking,  although 
the  reception  office  may  be 
presentable.  Stairways  dirty 
in  all  and  in  two  schools  too 
narrow. 


il" 

co   rt 


G   U)'* 
O   G    O 

°i§'n 


CO 


ton: 

G   3 


- 

^       PQ 


3     ife 

S         3   3  ft 
<U    4)  J3  U3    rt 

* 


•  ° 


OO 


c 

lllii 

0^      O 


°  ^ 


o 

ex  o 

3  J3 


Ovo 


HH     CO 

&! 

o  y 


33 


FINDING  POSITIONS  FOR  STUDENTS. 

We  have  already  shown  in  Table  1  the  standing  of  the 
groups  with  regard  to  guaranteed  positions.  It  is  our 
opinion  that  an  honest  school  cannot  guarantee  positions. 
It  can  say  that  it  places  95  per  cent  of  its  pupils ;  that  there 
is  great  likelihood  of  placement;  or  that  it  has  more  posi- 
tions than  workers.  But  when  a  new  and  unknown  student 
presents  himself  to  the  school  for  admission,  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  say  that  he  will  be  able  to  complete  the  course 
satisfactorily  or  that  a  position  satisfactory  to  him  can  be 
found.  Some  schools  qualify  their  promise  by  saying,  "We 
get  some  kind  of  a  position.  Every  one  can  do  something." 
But  this  is  not  sufficient;  for  the  boy  or  girl  who  studies 
stenography  expects  to  be  placed  in  stenography,  and  he  is 
not  getting  what  he  was  promised  if  given  a  position  in 
which  stenography  is  not  used.  The  school  which  guaran- 
tees a  position  "if  you  study  according  to  our  directions" 
leaves  a  loophole  for  literal  truth  but  does  not,  in  our  opin- 
ion, succeed  in  giving  the  impression  that  it  is  a  reliable 
school. 

The  placement  services  of  most  schools  are  given  to 
graduates  only,  yet  there  are  schools  which  will  help  to 
place  non-graduates  if  their  leaving  school  was  based  on  a 
justifiable  reason.  All  the  schools  visited,  with  one  excep- 
tion, feel  that  the  responsibility  is  upon  them,  to  find  their 
graduates'  first  positions,  although  they  do  not  always 
succeed  in  so  doing.  One  manager,  in  order  to  show  his 
zealous  helpfulness  and  not  thinking  that  the  undesirability 
of  his  pupil  might  reflect  upon  the  school,  told  us  he  had 
sent  a  girl  to  twenty-five  positions  before  she  was  finally 
accepted.  Schools  differ  with  regard  to  the  policy  of  con- 
tinuing placement  services  after  graduation.  Most  schools 
assert  that  they  have  no  difficulty  in  getting  numerous  calls 
from  employers.  This  is  especially  claimed  by  those  schools 
which  are  located  in  the  heart  of  business  districts.  Schools 

34 


long  established  claim  a  clientele  built  up  through  years  of 
service.  The  typewriter  agencies  seem  to  be  utilized  by  the 
majority  of  schools  to  some  extent ;  and  one  school,  at  least, 
depends  upon  them  for  all  its  position  finding. 

The  question  of  investigation  of  places  of  employment 
was  met  with  various  answers.  The  most  usual  were, 
"Most  of  our  employers  have  been  known  to  us  for  years" ; 
"We  never  send  pupils  to  an  unknown  firm  whose  name  is 
not  in  the  telephone  book";  and  "You  can  judge  by  the 
way  a  man  talks  over  the  telephone  whether  you  want  to 
send  anybody."  One  school  said  it  does  not  accept  calls 
for  girls  in  apartment  houses,  theatres  or  hotels;  some 
schools  judge  by  the  location  of  a  business  house  whether 
it  is  to  be  considered  desirable;  several  base  acceptance  of 
calls  upon  the  firm's  willingness  to  pay  a  wage  not  lower 
than  the  minimum  set  by  the  school.  In  working  up  the 
patronage  of  employers,  some  schools  have  developed  a 
circularizing  list  on  the  basis  of  financial  rating.  One 
school,  large  and  well  established,  has  for  years  kept  sys- 
tematic notes  of  the  occupational  experience  of  its  gradu- 
ates and  can  tell  by  referring  to  these  which  employers  are 
desirable  and  which  are  not.  Only  one  school  was  found 
which  disclaims  any  rule  or  method  in  regard  to  getting 
knowledge  of  its  places  of  employment.  We  were  told,  in 
some  instances,  that  it  was  a  school's  custom,  in  the  case 
of  unknown  employers,  to  send  two  girls  together  to  make 
application,  to  send  a  teacher  with  a  pupil  or  to  advise 
pupils  to  take  their  parents  with  them.  We  have  no  way 
of  knowing  the  extent  to  which  these  various  claims  are 
made  good;  but  our  feeling  about  the  situation  as  a  whole 
is  that  in  the  case  of  new  employers,  at  least,  students  have 
no  reliable  protection  against  placements  that  may  prove 
undesirable  or  even  unsafe.  One  school  manager  said,  not 
without  truth,  "No  school  by  any  method  can  be  sure  of 
protecting  young  girls  in  their  wage  earning  experience. 

35 


The  most  important  factor  in  safety  is  that  girls  should  be 
taught  to  take  care  of  themselves." 

Eighteen  schools  claim  a  minimum  wage  which  they  ad- 
here to  in  placement.  Of  course,  we  understand  that  most 
pupils  are  expected  to  go  above  the  minimum,  yet  it  seems 
to  us  incredible  that  any  schools  should  accept  for  trained 
graduates  the  minimum  wage  which  the  majority  of 
eighteen  schools  acknowledge.  Table  5  shows  what  these 
wages  are: 

TABLE  5  :  MINIMUM  WAGES  REQUIRED  FOR  GRADUATES  AT  18 
SCHOOLS  OF  MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX. 

Weekly  Minimum  Wage.  Number  of  Schools. 

$5.00  3 

6.00  4 

6.00  and  chance  to  advance 1 

7.00  4 

8.00  4 

10.00  1 

12.00  1 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  RIVALRY. 

Competition  is  a  matter  of  serious  concern  to  most  private 
commercial  schools.  It  is  a  kind  of  competition  that  is  not 
so  likely  to  be  the  life  of  the  commercial  education  trade 
as  it  is  to  be  its  death  or  disabling.  It  is  very  hard  for  new 
or  small  schools  to  keep  from  "going  to  the  wall";  and 
especially  among  schools  of  Group  IV  the  effect  of  compe- 
tition is,  too  often,  to  concentrate  all  the  energy  and  in- 
genuity upon  methods  of  outwitting  a  rival,  instead  of  using 
this  energy  and  ingenuity  in  building  up  a  better  school  and 
thus  winning  fairly  by  offering  to  students  a  better  thing 
for  their  money.  Such  competition  as  exists  between  pri- 
vate and  public  schools  is  referred  to  in  Chapter  4;  but 
the  hottest  rivalry  is  to  be  found  in  the  relations  of  the  pri- 
vate schools  with  each  other.  This  is  to  be  expected  be- 
cause it  is  the  private  schools,  only,  which  offer  similar 

36 


subjects  within  a  somewhat  similar  time  range.  The  public 
school  curriculum  is  widely  different  from  that  of  the 
private  school  and  the  time  required  is  much  longer.  Schools 
have  their  chosen  or  inevitable  rivals.  For  example,  School 
A,  Group  III,  is  the  active  rival  of  School  B  of  Group  II 
and  vice  versa.  School  C,  Group  IV,  concentrates  its  ener- 
gies largely  upon  School  D  of  the  same  group;  but  School 
C  is  so  much  the  smaller  institution  that  D  does  not  recip- 
rocate actively.  Rivals  are  fought  with  all  disregard  of 
truth  and  fairness.  Tales  of  rivals'  misdoings  were  re- 
counted to  us  enthusiastically  in  the  course  of  the  investiga- 
tion. An  incident  which  occasioned  some  unpleasant  pub- 
licity for  a  New  York  private  commercial  school  a  number 
of  years  ago  is  talked  of  as  if  it  had  happened  yesterday; 
and  yet  the  thing  which  occurred  was  an  accident  which 
might,  with  equal  chance,  have  befallen  almost  any  school 
in  the  city.  To  illustrate  methods  used  in  competition,  we 
cite  the  case  of  a  school  which  obtained  the  names  of  its 
rival's  enrolled  students  and  sent  them  communications 
offering  to  secure  positions  for  them.  We  have  seen  evi- 
dence, which  to  us  is  conclusive,  that  last  summer  this 
same  school  sent,  to  the  students  of  its  rival,  post  cards 
which  read,  "Do  not  come  to  school.  Infantile  paralysis" 
and  signed  them  with  the  typewritten  name  of  the  rival's 
school-manager. 

Among  the  most  actively  competitive  schools,  there  is 
considerable  interchanging  of  ownership.  It  appears  to  be 
the  policy  of  the  large  schools  to  "buy  out"  promising  new 
schools  which  encroach  upon  their  territory;  or  to  close 
them  by  inducing  the  proprietor-manager  to  accept,  in  their 
own  school,  a  teacher's  or  solicitor's  position.  In  the  case 
of  established  rivals,  attempts  are  made  on  both  sides  to 
secure  each  other's  teachers.  In  this  way  one  school  learns 
another's  assailable  points  most  intimately  and  does  not 
scruple  to  attack  them.  The  following  story,  taken  from 
the  records,  is  an  illustration: 

37 


For  a  few  years  Mr.  E.  had  a  school  of  his  own  with 
an  enrollment  approximating  one  hundred  students. 
Suddenly  he  closed  his  school,  telling  his  students 
that  he  was  to  become  a  teacher  in  the  F  school 
and  recommending  that  they  go  to  this  school  to 
complete  their  courses.  He  did  all  this  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  a  few  weeks  before  in  an 
assembly  talk  before  the  students  he  had  told  them 
how  "low"  the  F.  school,  then  his  rival,  was.  For 
several  months  he  continued  to  teach  in  the  F 
school;  but  suddenly  he  left,  without  warning — 
students  say — and  became  the  G  school's  employee. 
The  G  school  is  the  deadliest  rival  the  F  school 
has.  Our  investigation  led  us  to  the  G  school  very 
soon  after  Mr.  E  had  come  to  it;  and  he  occupied 
most  of  the  time  of  our  interview  in  revealing  to  us 
the  inefficiency  and  irregularities  of  the  F  school 
which  had  so  lately  employed  him. 

SUDDEN  CLOSING. 

"Going  out  of  business"  is  common  enough,  in  the  case  of 
New  York's  schools  of  commercial  training,  to  warrant 
careful  watching  whether  the  closing  be  the  result  of  com- 
petition, undercapitalization  or  deliberate  unscrupulous- 
ness.  The  investigation  has  learned  of  three  schools  which 
closed  suddenly  during  the  last  year.  The  first  of  these 
is  the  school  referred  to  in  the  record  quoted  above.  Fur- 
ther information  in  regard  to  this  school's  money  methods 
is  stated  in  the  paragraphs  which  follow,  and  the  stories  of 
the  two  other  schools  are  told: 

The  E  School 

"It  was  always  Mr.  E's  custom,"  students  said,  "to 
keep  everyone  paid  up  right  to  the  very  minute. 
If  you  hadn't  paid  you  couldn't  come  in  class. 
When  the  school  closed  there  were  about  one  hun- 
dred girls  there  and  some  were  cheated  out  of 
months  of  schooling  and  a  good  deal  of  money. 
The  day  before  the  school  failed  Mr.  E  went  around 
to  the  pupils  and  collected  money." 

38 


The  H  School 


This  was  a  school  which  we  planned  to  visit  because 
we  understood  its  enrollment  was  fairly  large.  On 
entering  the  elevator  in  the  building  in  which  it 
was  located,  we  were  told  by  the  elevator  man  that 
the  school  had  not  been  open  for  several  days  and 
that  the  managers  had  left  over  night  taking  all 
books  and  school  supplies  with  them,  except  the 
typewriters.  No  one,  the  man  said,  neither  land- 
lord nor  pupils,  knew  that  the  managers  intended 
leaving  or  where  they  had  gone.  Pupils  had  come 
to  the  school,  as  usual,  only  to  find  the  door  locked ; 
and  that  is  all  anyone  knew.  Later  some  inter- 
views held  with  girls  who  had  been  students  before 
or  at  the  time  of  closing,  gave  some  information  in 
regard  to  the  general  character  of  the  school  and 
the  circumstances  of  its  closing. 

Julia  L.  is  a  recent  graduate  and  Louisa  M.  was  a 
student  at  the  H  School  when  it  closed.  Each  girl 
said  she  had  paid  $35  for  the  course  which  was  to 
last  from  four  to  six  months.  They  agreed  in 
saying,  "If  you  don't  get  through  in  four  months 
you  get  through  anyhow."  One  expanded  this  re- 
mark by  saying  she  knew  she  was  not  progressing 
very  rapidly  in  shorthand  and  at  the  end  of  the 
fourth  month  was  still  in  need  of  fundamental 
training.  When  she  took  the  final  test  at  this  time 
her  astonishment  was  great  to  be  told  that  she 
had  passed  and  was  ready  for  work.  "If  you  in- 
sist on  more  training  after  the  four  months  are 
over,"  she  said,  "you  are  charged  $10  a  month 
aside  from  what  you  paid,  although  when  you 
paid  it  you  thought  you  could  stay  until  you  were 
efficient."  The  school  was  untidy,  the  girls  said, 
and  the  manager  also.  Although  the  school  adver- 
tised a  course  which  included  filing,  office  practice, 
legal  documents  and  mimeographing,  they  were 
taught  nothing  but  bookkeeping  and  stenography. 
Both  girls  came  to  the  conclusion  long  before  the 
school  closed  that  Mr.  H,  the  proprietor,  was  a 
"crook."  For  example,  students  were  expected  to 

39 


buy  their  stationery  from  him ;  and  often  he  would 
take  the  money  and  say,  "I  will  give  you  the  change 
later" — but  he  never  did  give  it  to  them,  according 
to  the  girls'  report. 

In  speaking  of  the  closing  of  the  school  Louisa  M. 
said,  "No  one  knew  just  what  was  going  to  happen. 
We  girls  saw  Mr.  H  picking  up  books  and  putting 
things  away  in  the  office  and  a  rumor  spread  that 
the  school  was  going  to  close.  The  first  of 
July  he  put  a  notice  on  the  board  saying  the  school 
was  closed  for  a  few  days  and  the  students  would 
be  notified  what  day  to  come  back."  She  received 
a  post  card  soon  asking  her  to  return  July  5th.  She 
did  return  but  found  the  door  locked.  She  received 
another  card  asking  her  to  return  on  August  17th. 
She  went  back  again  but  found  the  school  still 
closed.  A  third  card  told  her  to  go  in  September 
and  when  she  went  the  elevator  man  told  her, 
'There  is  no  more  H  school.  Mr.  H  has  skipped." 

Another  girl  who  said  she  had  paid  $30  and  had  re- 
ceived only  one  month's  instruction  when  the 
school  closed,  corroborated  in  detail  the  events 
noted  in  the  foregoing  record.  She  said  she  did 
not  get  any  of  her  money  back  and  thought  about 
fifteen  students  suffered  a  loss  similar  to  hers. 

The  I  School 

One  of  the  schools  which  was  most  active  in  the 
solicitation  of  eighth  grade  graduates  last  June,  was 
a  new  school  which  frankly  told  the  children  it 
was  new  when  urging  their  patronage.  Our  call  at 
its  address  found  the  door  locked,  but  through  the 
windows  rows  of  dust-covered  typewriters  could 
be  seen,  and  the  stamp  of  desertion  was  upon  the 
whole  place.  Later  we  encountered  the  proprietor, 
at  this  time  a  teacher  in  a  large,  well  established 
neighboring  school.  He  said  he  had  "gone  bank- 
rupt" and  assured  us  that  the  few  pupils  he  had 
enrolled  had  been  taken  with  him  to  the  school 
which  at  the  time  of  our  visit  employed  him. 

40 


THE  MORTALITY  OF  SCHOOLS. 

Whether  or  not  it  is  customary  for  private  commercial 
schools  in  New  York  City  to  come  into  existence,  to  have  a 
short  life  and  then  to  pass  out,  is  information  that  cannot 
very  well  be  provided  unless,  perhaps,  by  an  old  resident 
who  has  been  continuously  close  to  the  commercial  school 
situation.  The  more  transient  schools  might  not  stay  long 
enough  to  get  recorded  on  any  available  list.  From  Trow's 
Directory  we  offer  the  following  names  of  schools  which 
were  listed  in  1906  and  1911,  but  which  do  not  appear  in 
the  present  issue  of  1916-1917.  We  know,  in  the  case  of 
four  of  these  schools,  that  they  exist  now  under  new  names 
or  have  been  taken  over  by  rival  schools.  Such  changes 
and  combinations  may  have  befallen  others.  But,  at  any 
rate,  the  list,  covering  a  period  of  ten  years,  includes  twenty- 
two  names ;  and  this  number  of  vanished  schools  is  large 
enough  to  induce  the  opinion  that,  in  spite  of  the  longevity 
of  certain  schools,  there  is  instability  in  the  business  of  pri- 
vate commercial  instruction. 

TABLE  6:  SCHOOLS  EXISTING  FIVE  TO  TEN  YEARS  AGO  J  NOT 
LISTED  NOW  (1916-1917).  (FROM  TROW'S  BUSINESS  DIRECTORY.) 

1906— Bond  Institute  of  Mercantile  Training 

Broadway  Business  College 

Commercial  Training  College 

Cosmopolitan  School  of  Shorthand 

Franklin  School 

Goodwin  Bookkeeping  Institute 

Hope's  School 

Metropolitan  School  of  Business 

Standard  School  of  Commerce 
1906-1911— 

Blake's  School 

Harlem  Commercial  School 

Loesberg's 

Metropolitan  School  of  Shorthand 

Ruscoe  School  of  Commerce 
1911— Abbott's  School 

Mulcaster's  School 

The  Pitcher  School 

Sharp  School 

Thompson's  Business  School 

Universal  Business  Institute 

Vidal  Typewriting  School 
Yorkville  School 

41 


THE  RIGHT  OF  PRIVATE  COMMERCIAL  SCHOOLS  TO  EXIST. 

The  private  commercial  schools  claim,  with  truth,  that 
they  are  the  discoverers  and  pioneers  in  their  field.  The 
oldest  private  commercial  school  in  New  York  City  was 
established  sixty-seven  years  ago;  but  the  oldest  public 
commercial  course  has  yet  to  celebrate  its  thirtieth  birth- 
day. The  private  schools  believe  it  would  be  a  reversal  of 
justice  if,  now,  the  public  should  question  their  right  to 
exist.  They  think  the  work  of  commercial  instruction  is 
still  experimental  and  will  always  be,  because  the  condi- 
tions in  business  organization  and  methods  are  continually 
undergoing  change.  They  have  advanced  the  opinion,  also, 
that  private  commercial  schools  are  needed  for  the  reason 
that  justifies  the  existence  of  private  schools  of  any  sort — 
their  ability  to  meet  special,  individual  needs.  A  number 
of  private  commercial  school  managers,  in  our  interviews 
during  the  course  of  this  investigation,  discussed  various 
aspects  of  the  rights  of  private  schools.  Most  of  their  com- 
ment seemed  wholly  sincere;  in  a  few  instances  it  seemed 
that  the  managers  sought  arguments  to  justify  an  object 
which  had  in  reality  no  aim  beyond  that  of  an  opportunist's 
business  enterprise.  There  is  obviously  a  fear  among  some 
of  them  that  the  public  school  will  wake  up  to  the  demand 
and  become  a  competitor  in  the  field  of  the  short  intensive 
business  course.  We  quote  here  some  of  the  things  these 
managers  said: 

Mr.  S. 

"The  first  need  is  for  a  concentrated  short  business 
course,  for  those  who  cannot  afford  to  remain  a 
longer  time  in  school.  The  public  school,  in  not 
offering  this,  leaves  a  legitimate  field  to  the  private 
school. 

"There  are  some  children  who  do  not  get  along  in  the 
public  school,  which  is  planned  for  average  chil- 
dren. These  may  be  over-sized,  may  be  retarded 

42 


slightly  in  mental  capacity,  or  may,  for  other  rea- 
sons as  individuals,  be  unadapted  to  the  regulation 
arrangements  of  the  public  school  system. 

"A  private  school  may  be  able  to  give  better  business 
training;  and,  if  people  have  money  to  spend  on 
education,  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
be  free  to  patronize  private  commercial  schools  if 
anything  is  to  be  gained  thereby/' 

Mr.  M. 

"I  have  heard  that  in  some  public  schools  talks  are 
given  to  pupils  telling  them  not  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  any  private  commercial  school.  If  this 
is  true  it  is  too  undiscriminating  to  be  just,  since 
we  private  schools  gave  commercial  instruction 
when  the  public  schools  were  scorning  it;  and, 
furthermore,  we  provide  a  means  for  studying 
technical  subjects  with  all  time  waste  eliminated — 
a  thing  which  the  public  schools  do  not  do." 

Mr.  H. 

"The  public  school  does  not  and  should  not  offer  the 
short  business  course  which  most  private  schools 
give.  The  public  school  does  right  in  keeping  to 
ideals  in  education.  The  private  school  must  exist 
for  the  minority  who  cannot  follow  the  ideal.  If 
short  courses  were  given  in  public  schools,  fitting 
pupils  in  a  few  months  to  go  into  business  posi- 
tions, it  would  be  much  less  possible  than  it  is  now 
to  hold  pupils  in  high  school  for  a  longer  course." 

Mr.  E. 

"Frequently  I  receive  teachers  from  the  public  schools 
as  visitors,  give  them  information  about  methods 
and  show  them  my  equipment ;  and  my  only  reward 
is  that  I  hear  that  pupils  in  public  schools  are 
warned  wholesale  against  attending  private  com- 
mercial schools.  The  fact  is  that  the  function  of 
the  private  school  is  more  important  now  than  it 
was  twenty-five  years  ago,  in  spite  of  the  growing 
activities  of  the  public  schools  in  the  direction  of 
commercial  instruction." 

43 


Mr.  A. 

"In  my  opinion,  the  private  school  should  be  supple- 
mented gradually  by  public  school  efforts.  This 
will  be  done  as  soon  as  the  public  school  has 
learned  to  do  the  job  in  such  a  way  as  to  provide 
speed  and  practical  experience.  High  school 
teachers  are  too  academic  at  present." 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

1.  Private  commercial  schools  as  a  group  are  receiving  too 
many— and  the  public  schools  too  few — of  the  city's 
younger  candidates  for  commercial  instruction.     Some 
private  commercial  schools  are  receiving  persons  who 
are  not  fit  for  any  sort  of  commercial  instruction. 

2.  The  pupils  in  most  private  commercial  schools  are  too 
young  and  too  unprepared  to  profit  adequately  by  the 
kind  of  instruction  given. 

3.  The  usual  private  commercial  school  course  is,  for  the 
youngest  pupils,  too  short  to  be  thorough. 

4.  The  quality  of  instruction  in  stenography  and  book- 
keeping is  likely  to  be  acceptable  for  those  pupils  cap- 
able of  receiving  it ;  but,  in  most  schools,  pupils  cannot 
get  adequate  instruction  in  office  practice  or  a  back- 
ground  of  knowledge   about   business.     The   schools 
which  do  not  give  special  English  instruction  are  those 
whose  pupils  are  most  likely  to  need  it. 

5.  Individual  instruction,   without  the   aid  of  classroom 
recitation,  is  enforced  on  the  pupils  of  most  schools  be- 
cause there  is  no  uniform  time  for  entering  upon  and 
finishing  the  courses  of  study. 

6.  The  quality  of  the  teachers  in  a  number  of  private  com- 
mercial schools  is  of  lower  grade  than  should  be  ac- 
cepted for  educators  of  any  kind.     There  is  need  for 
a  standard  of  minimum  qualifications  which  all  schools 
are  compelled  to  recognize. 

44 


7.  Placement  facilities  in  private  commercial  schools  do 
not  cover  investigation  of  places  of  employment,  and 
this  is  unfortunate  since  so  large  a  proportion  of  gradu- 
ates are  children  of  sixteen  years  or  younger. 

8.  Schools  which  resort  to  unscrupulous  methods  of  com- 
petition show,  in  this,  their  unfitness  to  exist  as  edu- 
cational institutions. 

9.  Students  are  in  need  of  protection  against  the  sudden 
closing  of  schools,  due  to  undercapitalization  or  other 
mismanagement. 


45 


CHAPTER  3. 
THE  PRODUCT  OF  THE  SCHOOLS. 


Stenographic  training  is  being  given  to  pupils  whose 
knowledge  of  English  construction  and  spelling  is  of  a 
low  grade  of  inferiority. 

Many  pupils  who  enter  upon  private  commercial 
school  courses  drop  out  before  graduation. 

Of  1,641  positions,  held  by  workers  who  had  had  pri- 
vate commercial  school  training,  23%  could  probably 
have  been  held  without  that  training. 

Of  1,281  positions,  held  by  workers  trained  in  private 
commercial  schools,  54%  were  retained  less  than  six 
months. 

In  the  majority  of  positions,  held  by  1,035  workers, 
trained  in  private  commercial  schools,  salaries  fell  be- 
tween the  limits  of  $6  and  $8. 


The  ultimate  test  of  a  school  is  not  what  that  school  can 
show  in  equipment  nor  what  can  be  said  of  the  policy  or 
course  of  instruction.  It  is  what  the  graduates  can  do  when 
they  get  into  the  field  of  business ;  and,  also,  it  is  the  quality 
of  the  discrimination  exercised  by  the  school  in  the  selection 
and  retention  of  students.  In  our  endeavor  to  learn  the 
fate  of  private  commercial  school  students,  we  have  made 
use  of  those  employment  agencies  which  keep  the  most  com- 
plete and  reliable  records,  and  which  were  willing  to  lend 
their  co-operation  to  promote  this  investigation.  These 
were: 


Chapter  3  is  based  upon  the  following  data: 

Records  showing  the  occupational  experiences  of  1035  young  people  trained  in 
private  commercial  schools.  Information  for  1641  positions  shows  how  long  they 
were  held,  how  they  were  secured  and  why  they  were  left;  shows  also  the  busi- 
ness in  which  they  were  held,  the  kind  of  work,  and  the  wages. 

185  records  of  trained  office  workers  rejected  by  an  employment  bureau  because 
of  unfitness.  These  cover  rejections  made  in  a  period  of  2  years. 

428  English  composition  and  penmanship  tests,  given  to  trained  office  workers 
registered  at  employment  and  other  agencies. 

Home  visits  and  office  interviews  with  20  workers  who  were  trained  at  a 
private  commercial  school  which  was  believed  to  be  of  average  competency. 
Interviews  with  31  employers — of  workers  trained  in  this  school.  All  interviews 
recorded  in  detail. 

46 


State  Public  Employment  Bureau 

City  Public  Employment  Bureau 

Alliance  Employment  Bureau 

Federated  Employment  Bureau  for  Jewish  Girls 

Commercial  Extension  Rooms 

Vacation  War  Relief  Employment  Bureau 

Young  Women's   Christian  Association 

Young  Women's  Hebrew  Association 

It  is  probable  that  the  sources  available  do  not  show 
the  best  product  of  the  schools  represented.  Furthermore, 
it  should  be  noted,  in  connection  with  the  tabulations  and 
illustrations  which  follow,  that  some  of  those  private  schools 
which  we  believe  to  be  the  best  are  represented  by  few 
records  or  none.  We  do  not  assert  that  all  private  schools 
turn  out  students  of  the  kind  this  chapter  describes,  or 
imply  that  such  students  make  up  the  entire  enrollment  of 
any  school.  But  the  sources  used  may  be  trusted  to  show 
what  happens  annually  in  New  York  City  to  some  hundreds 
of  boys  and  girls ;  and  if,  annually,  some  hundreds  of  young 
people  are  making  an  investment  in  private  commercial 
school  training  which  yields  only  discouragement,  frequent 
job  seeking,  or  work  they  could  do  without  training,  this 
must  be  a  matter  for  public  concern  and  action. 


LEAVING  BEFORE  GRADUATION. 

We  do  not  know  definitely  how  large  a  proportion  of  the 
students  included  in  the  records  are  graduates  of  the  schools 
they  attended;  but  this  report  should  be  concerned  with 
them  whether  they  are  graduates  or  not.  The  private 
schools,  in  taking  money,  have  a  degree  of  responsibility 
for  unsuccessful  non-graduates,  which  the  public  schools  do 
not  bear.  It  is  evident  that  the  proportion  of  non-graduate 

47 


private  commercial  school  students  in  New  York  City 
is  large ;  and,  further,  that  the  chief  reasons  for  their  drop- 
ping out  before  graduation  are  these : 

1.  Discouragement  because  of  their  inability  to  com- 

prehend the  course  of  study. 

2.  Discouragement  when  it  becomes  realized  that,  be- 

cause they  have  not  normal  ability  or  preparation, 
they  will  not  be  able  to  complete  the  course  in  the 
specified  time.  Continuance  would  mean  additional 
cost,  and  they  may  not  be  ready  to  meet  un- 
planned-for  expense. 

A  school  which  allows  incapable  or  insufficiently  prepared 
students  to  continue  beyond  the  first  trial  weeks  must  carry 
a  large  share  of  blame.  Any  student  who  has  remained  in 
a  school  long  enough  to  reach  the  point  at  which  he  will 
offer  himself  as  a  candidate  for  stenographic  work,  has  made 
in  the  school  a  considerable  investment  of  time  and  money ; 
and  this  must  be  remembered  against  a  school  when,  in  the 
case  of  its  unsuccessfully  trained  students,  it  disclaims  all 
responsibility  if  they  have  left  before  graduation.  The  lack 
of  success  to  which  we  refer  here  is  that  based  upon  a 
worker's  immaturity,  his  unsuitable  appearance,  his  lack  of 
intelligence  and  his  deficiency  in  the  correct  writing  and 
speaking  of  English.  We  do  not  refer  to  the  smaller  group 
of  office  workers  whose  faults  are  not  more  fundamental 
than  the  need  for  a  little  more  practice  in  shorthand  or  a 
little  more  speed  in  typing.  Such  workers  have  sometimes 
left  school  before  they  should  leave,  because  a  position  was 
offered;  and,  in  these  instances,  their  unpreparedness  can- 
not be  charged  to  the  school. 

THE  FATE  OF  1035  TRAINED  WORKERS. 

We  have  included  in  our  study  only  young  people  under 
twenty-one  years  of  age  who  have  received  commercial  train- 
ing in  Manhattan  or  the  Bronx,  and  who  left  their  schools 

48 


not  longer  ago  than  1913.  Our  records  of  students  trained 
at  private  commercial  schools  are  1035  in  number.  They 
are  not  selected  in  any  way,  but  represent  all  office  work 
applicants  at  the  several  bureaus  within  a  given  period. 
These  records  are  more  or  less  complete  occupational  his- 
tories from  the  time  of  leaving  school  to  the  date  of  the  last 
application  for  work.  It  may  be  reasonable  to  consider  in 
the  tabulations  and  diagrams  that  follow  that  applicants 
for  employment  will  not  be  likely,  at  any  rate,  to  leave  out 
of  their  records  the  facts  that  are  most  to  their  credit.  The 
histories  cover  such  information  as  the  kinds  of  positions 
held,  the  means  by  which  they  were  secured,  and  the  rea- 
sons why  they  were  left;  the  period  for  which  positions 
were  held  and  the  wages  received  in  them.  Of  the  whole 
number,  nearly  all  are  records  of  girls.  The  large  majority 
of  students  represented  are  elementary  school  graduates; 
a  few  left  elementary  school  before  graduation ;  several  had 
a  year  or  two  at  high  school;  and  an  occasional  student  is 
a  high  school  graduate. 

For  the  1035  students  we  have  information  concerning 
1641  positions  held  by  them  after  leaving  commercial 
schools.  In  Diagram  I  which  follows,  it  is  shown  that  369 
positions,  23  per  cent  of  the  whole  number,  give  no  evidence 
of  using  the  stenography,  typing  or  bookkeeping  which 
compose  the  ordinary  private  commercial  school  course. 
In  other  words,  23  per  cent  are  positions  which  probably 
could  have  been  held  without  the  investment  of  time  and 
money  in  special,  private  commercial  instruction. 


49 


DIAGRAM  I. 


Stenography      46.9  |_ 


Clerical  18.4 


Book-keeping     -J2.5 


Typing  9.3 


Stenography 

and 

Book-keeping 


Other 

Analysis  of  1641  office  positions  with  regard  to  their  dependency  upon  special 
training  in  stenography  or  bookkeeping.  Shaded  portion  represents  positions 
which  do  not  need  it.  The  positions  were  held  by  1035  commercially  trained 
workers. 

The  amount  of  changing  about  in  office  positions  cannot 
be  shown  by  contrasting  the  number  of  positions  with  the 
number  of  workers ;  for  the  total  of  positions  recorded  does 
not  include  all  the  positions  held.  One  bureau,  which  con- 
tributed 361  of  the  records,  noted  the  workers'  two  last 
positions  only.  Several  bureaus  make  a  practice  of  sum- 
marizing positions  of  short  duration  by  entering  a  statement 
with  dates  such  as,  "Several  temporary  positions  held."  It 
is  probable,  too,  that  certain  oi  the  remaining  records  failed 
of  completeness.  Either  this  is  true,  or  we  have  to  believe 
that  long  periods  of  idleness  occurred  between  positions; 
for,  in  the  case  of  a  number  of  workers  who  are  recorded 
as  having  left  school  so  long  ago  as  two  years,  the  sum  of 
the  periods  of  employment  shows  a  total  of  less  than  one 
year.  The  facts  regarding  changes  can  be  set  forth  more 

50 


accurately  by  stating  how  long  the  recorded  positions  were 
held.  A  tabulation  for  1281  positions  shows  that  697,  or 
more  than  half;  were  held  less  than  six  months;  257,  or 
about  one-fifth,  from  six  months  to  a  year ;  and  only  327,  or 
about  one-fourth,  one  year  or  longer.  The  positions  held 
less  than  six  months  are  analyzed  in  Diagram  II.  It  should 
be  noted  that  more  than  a  fourth  of  these  697  were  held  for 
a  period  of  less  than  one  month. 

DIAGRAM  II. 


Less  than        „„  Q 
1  month  28.9 


1  month 

Less  than        18.2 

2mos. 


2  IMS. 

Less  than        18  2 

IMS, 


3  mos. 
Less  than 

4  mos. 


4  mos 

Less  than        11.2 

5  mos. 


5  mos. 
Less  th 
B  mos. 


Less  than          g.4 


Analysis   of   697    office   positions,    held   by    commercially   trained    office   workers, 
for  less  than  6   months.   Shows  periods  for  which  they  were  held. 

Frank  and  full  statements  of  the  reasons  why  positions 
were  left  may  not  be  given  readily  by  candidates  for  employ- 
ment. In  the  case  of  forty-six  per  cent  of  the  tabulated  rea- 
sons, the  claim  is  made  that  the  worker  was  "not  needed" 
because  business  was  "slack,"  or  that  the  position  was  in- 

51 


tended  to  be  temporary  only.  Three  per  cent  admitted  the 
workers'  incapacity.  In  only  eleven  per  cent  was  a  claim 
made  to  the  commendable  excuse  that  positions  were  left 
for  the  sake  of  advancement.  Other  reasons  also  were  as- 
signed. Stated  in  the  order  of  their  frequency  of  occurrence, 
these  are :  unsatisfactory  working  conditions ;  the  failure  of 
a  firm  or  its  removal  from  the  city ;  sickness  or  other  emer- 
gency. 

Wage  information  could  be  tabulated  for  1357  office  posi- 
tions. Of  these  697  were  held  by  persons  who  had  been 
wage  earning  one  year  or  less.  When,  for  a  given  posi- 
tion, wages  at  beginning  and  leaving  were  both  stated  on 
the  record,  we  have  tabulated  only  the  higher  wage  re- 
ceived at  the  time  of  leaving.  The  minimum  recorded  wage 
is  $3.50  and  the  maximum  is  $18.  Diagram  III  makes  it 
clear  that  the  majority  of  positions  come  between  the  limits 
of  six  and  eight  dollars.  Seventy-six  per  cent  fall  below 
nine  dollars. 


DIAGRAM  III. 

$5  and  under  10.0    [ 


$10  and 
under  $12 


$12  and  over     2.9 

Showing  wages  in   1357  positions   held  by   commercially  trained   workers. 

52 


SOME  INDIVIDUAL  STORIES. 

The  workers'  individual  stories  are  not  sufficiently  re- 
vealed in  group  tabulations.  Close  examination  of  the 
records  shows  that  stenographic  and  bookkeeping  positions 
were  likely  to  be  the  first  ones  held  on  leaving  school,  and 
that  the  change  to  typing,  clerical,  factory  or  other  work 
followed.  In  some  cases  the  typing,  clerical,  factory  or 
other  work  appears  to  be  the  final  level;  in  others,  work 
of  this  sort  was  done  at  intervals  between  stenographic  or 
bookkeeping  positions.  We  have  to  infer  either  that  the 
supply  of  candidates  for  stenographic  and  bookkeeping  posi- 
tions was  in  excess  of  the  demand;  or  that  the  workers  in 
question  were  incapable  of  doing  good  enough  work  to 
retain  such  positions  and,  in  some  cases,  to  even  secure 
them.  While  there  are  many  records  which  show  instances 
of  good  wages,  the  records  are  few  which  show  for  the  indi- 
vidual any  sort  of  consistent  progression  either  in  wages  or 
kind  of  work.  We  shall  illustrate  these  points  by  a  repro- 
duction here  of  some  of  the  records.  Each  of  them  is  typical 
of  many  others,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  two  records 
given. 

Alice  B. — This  is  the  record  of  a  girl  who  has  in  all  her 
positions  made  use  of  her  training;  but  she  is  continually 
losing  positions.  The  wages  fluctuate  a  little,  never  getting 
beyond  those  received  in  her  first  position  and  usually  falling 
below.  This  girl  was  graduated  from  elementary  school,  at- 
tended a  private  commercial  school  seven  months  and  began 
wage  earning  at  sixteen  years  of  age. 

Weekly  Duration  of 

Positions  Wage  Employment 

1st     Stenography $8.00  10  months 

2nd    Typing 7.00  3  months 

3rd    Typing 8.00  1  day 

4th     Typing .' 6.00  2  days 

5th     Typing 7.00  5  days 

6th     Stenography 7.00  2  weeks 

7th    Stenography 6.00  2  weeks 

8th     Stenography    and    book- 
keeping       6.00  2  weeks 

9th     Stenography 7.00  2  months + 

53 


Mary  K. — This  record  is  similar  to  the  foregoing.  The  dif- 
ference lies  in  the  fact  that  the  girl  represented  has  not  been 
so  long  away  from  school;  but  her  story  indicates  that  the 
same  sort  of  future  awaits  her. 

Weekly  Duration  of 

Positions  Wage  Employment 

1st  Stenography $6.00  1  week 

2nd  Stenography 7.00  2  weeks 

3rd  Stenography 8.00  2  weeks 

4th  Stenography 6.00  1  week 


Rose  L. — An  instance  of  retrogression  from  stenographic 
to  clerical  work.  The  girl  represented  was  graduated  from  ele- 
mentary school,  attended  a  private  commercial  school  seven 
months  and  began  wage  earning  at  sixteen  years. 

Weekly  Duration  of 

Positions  Wage  Employment 

1st     Stenography $6.00  1  week 

2nd    Stamping 5.50  2  weeks 

3rd    Clerical    work 6.00  3  weeks 

4th  General  office  work..  6.00  Not  ascertained 


Louise  K. — This  record  shows  a  girl  who  has  managed  to 
get  office  positions  of  some  sort,  but  none  which  make  use  of 
her  special  stenographic  training.  She  was  graduated  from 
elementary  school,  attended  a  private  commercial  school  one 
year  and  began  wage  earning  at  sixteen  years. 

Weekly  Duration  of 

Positions  Wage  Employment 

1st     Clerical  work $7.00  3  months 

2nd   Filing 6.00  1  year 

3rd    Clerical  work 6.50  1  year 

54 


Celia  Lr. — An  instance  of  retrogression  through  stenogra- 
phic, store,  clerical  and  factory  work.  This  girl  attended  high 
school  for  a  year  and  then  went  to  a  private  commercial  school 
for  a  period  long  enough  to  make  her  a  candidate  for  steno- 
graphic work.  She  began  wage  earning  at  sixteen  years. 


Positions 

Weekly 
Wage 

Duration  of 
Employment 

1st     Stenography 

$500 

7  months 

2nd   Selling  

3.00  and  board 

8  months 

3rd    Clerical  work  

.  .  .      3.75 

1  week 

4th    Packing  (factory) 

...      5.00 

2  weeks 

5th    Clasoinar   (  factory).., 

5.50 

10  days 

Fannie  B. — The  record  of  a  girl  who  did  not  obtain  the 
kind  of  position  for  which  she  was  trained  but  alternated  be- 
tween clerical  and  factory  work.  She  was  graduated  from 
elementary  school,  attended  a  private  commercial  school  nine 
months,  and  began  wage  earning  at  sixteen  years. 

Weekly  Duration  of 

Positions  Wage  Employment 

1st  Office   work $5.00  1  year  6  months 

2nd  Charge  clerk  6.00  1  year  4  months 

3rd  Factory  work   6.00  9  months 

4th  Clerical   work    .  6.00  Not  ascertained 


Esther  A. — The  record  of  a  girl  who  has  had  no  sort  of 
office  work  since  leaving  business  school.  She  was  graduated 
from  elementary  school  and  attended  a  private  commercial 
school  six  months,  taking  the  bookkeeping  and  typing  course. 
She  began  wage  earning  at  seventeen  years. 

Weekly  Duration  of 

Positions  Wage  Employment 

1st     Slipping   (factory) $4.00  1  month 

2nd    Boxing    (factory) 6.00  4months+ 

55 


Ada  S. — This  record  shows  ten  positions  held  in  twenty 
months,  nine  of  them  in  ten  months.  The  girl  represented  was 
graduated  from  elementary  school,  attended  a  private  commer- 
cial school  one  year,  and  began  wage  earning  at  fifteen  years. 

Weekly  Duration  of 

Positions  Wage  Employment 

1st     Office    work $4.00  2  months 

2nd    Stenography  8.00  1  week 

3rd    Typing  7.00  1  week 

4th    Stencil  operating 5.00  1  month 

5th    Stenography    and   book- 
keeping    6.00  4  months 

6th    Typing  7.00  10  months 

7th    Stenography    and    book- 
keeping    9.00  3  weeks 

8th    Typing    8.00  1  week 

9th    Stenography  7.00  1  month 

10th    Bookkeeping   8.00  Not  ascertained 

ENGLISH  TESTS  FOR  TRAINED  WORKERS. 

One  of  the  employment  bureaus  has  made  use  of  a  test 
for  discovering  which  candidates  for  office  work  possess  at 
least  the  minimum  of  education  which  office  positions  re- 
quire. A  few  simple  examples  in  arithmetic,  a  question  or 
two  in  geography  relating  to  the  location  of  certain  promi- 
nent cities  and  the  request  that  the  applicant  write  a  short 
business  letter,  constitute  the  chief  requirements  which  the 
applicant's  "specimen"  must  include.  In  two  years  185 
commercially  trained  applicants  were  refused  registration 
for  stenographic  work  on  the  basis  of  this  test ;  and  yet  this 
bureau,  in  its  desire  to  give  help  to  those  who  especially 
need  it,  accepts  for  placement  persons  of  very  moderate 
abilities,  some  of  whom  cannot  command  salaries  of  more 
than  six  or  seven  dollars.  It  must  be  understood  that  to  be 
bad  enough  for  rejection  is  to  be  very  bad  indeed.  The  rea- 
sons for  the  rejections  are  classified  thus: 

Specimen   poor 149 

Applicant  too  young 20 

Applicant's  appearance  and  personality  unsuitable.  8 

Applicant  not  worth  wage  asked 8 

56 


For  our  own  understanding  of  the  English  preparation  of 
the  sort  of  stenographers  who  apply  to  the  large  non-com- 
mercial employment  bureaus,  we  devised  a  test  which  was 
taken  by  428  commercially  trained  persons  under  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  These  428  were  all  who  applied  for  steno- 
graphic positions  in  the  selected  bureaus  during  the  period 
of  test.  Of  the  persons  who  took  the  test  a  few  are  high 
school  graduates,  about  a  third  have  had  some  high  school 
education  and  the  remainder  are  the  product  of  elementary 
schools.  All,  we  have  said,  had  had  special  commercial 
training.  The  requirements  of  the  test  were  the  writing  of 
an  ordinary  letter  of  application  and  a  brief  statement  upon 
an  assigned  subject.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  letter  of 
application  served  not  only  as  a  test  of  the  applicant's  abil- 
ity to  write  one,  but  it  was  designed  also  to  supply  needed 
facts  about  his  schooling,  training  and  experience.  The 
requests  were  worded  as  follows: 

Write  a  dated  letter  to  Mr.  John  Wilson  of  the  firm 
Brown  and  Wilson  at  549  Broadway  in  this  city,  apply- 
ing for  the  position  of  stenographer.  Tell  him  your 
age;  how  much  elementary  or  high  school  education 
you  have  had ;  where  you  went  to  business  school  and 
how  long  you  went  there;  how  much  experience  you 
have  had  and  what  kind  it  was.  Tell  him  what  salary 
you  would  accept  at  the  start.  Sign  your  name  and 
address. 

Write  a  paragraph  stating  your  opinion  concerning 
the  value  of  high  school  education  in  the  equipment  of 
a  stenographer  and  give  your  reasons  for  this  opinion. 

The  whole  number  of  tests  taken  was  428;  and  of  these 
only  70  were  free  from  errors  in  English  or  spelling.  Many 
persons  showed  no  sense  of  arrangement  and  their  penman- 
ship was  poor ;  few  knew  how  to  write  numerals  correctly ; 
several  applied  for  a  position  "in"  a  firm  or  used  the  expres- 
sion "in  regards  to."  Some  considered  that  the  inclusion 
of  an  expression  in  parentheses  was  equivalent  to  striking 
it  out.  Careless  omissions  and  blots  or  untidy  erasures  were 

57 


common.  Parentheses  were  used  unnecessarily,  apostro- 
phes were  put  in  the  wrong  place  or  omitted,  and  periods 
followed  questions.  Abbreviations  were  used  freely  and 
for  almost  any  kind  of  word.  Instances  of  misspelling  were 
found  in  most  of  the  tests.  The  following  short  lists  of 
typical  mistakes  may  serve  to  give  some  idea  of  the  defi- 
ciencies the  tests  disclosed : 

Unsuitable  Abbreviations. 

ad.     (advertisement)  Man.     (Manhattan) 

&  P.  S.     (Public  School) 

asst.  steno. 

co.  stenog. 

grad.  (graduate)  yr. 

mach.     (machine)  % 

Misspelled  Words. 

accaptible  memiograph 

adversment   (advertisement)  neccosy  (necessary) 

advisement  (advertisement)  oblidge 

aguire  (acquire)  payed 

aplacation  permenent 

bussiness  possition 

cource  pretaining 

enfprmed  pront   (prompt) 

equippes  quiet  (quite) 

esstenial   (essential)  throughly   (thoroughly) 

grammer  type-writter 

jober  (jobber)  type-writist 

In  order  that  the  situation  may  be  set  forth  as  vividly  as 
possible,  we  reproduce  here  some  of  the  letters  and  para- 
graphs which  the  tested  applicants  wrote.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  all  the  pupils  represented  have  been 
trained  at  commercial  schools  and  are  candidates  for  steno- 
graphic positions.  The  letters,  with  exceptions  which  we 
note,  are  typical.  There  may  be  none  worse,  but  there  are 
dozens  of  each  sort  equally  poor.  The  first  five  letters 
are  fac-simile  reproductions.  The  last  two  letters,  illus- 
trating the  habit  of  omitting  pronouns  of  the  first  person 
in  writing  a  business  letter,  are  extreme  instances ;  but  the 
fault  is  a  prevalent  one.  This  may  be  the  result  of  teaching 
English  through  the  medium  of  business  forms,  the  sole 
method  employed  by  some  schools.  The  italics  are  ours. 

58 


New  York,  N.  Y. ,  Aug.  17,  1916 


Brown  &  Wilson, 

549  Broadway, 

New    York  City. 
Mr,  John  Wilson, 
Dear  Sir: 

You  are  in  need  of  a  stenographer 
I  am  in  need  of  a  posit10*  as  stenographer. 
Why  not  co-operate? 

I  ara  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  I  have  had  two  and  one-half  years  of 
high  school  education. 

I  have  had  no  experience  as  a  stenographer.     The  salary  I  expect  is 
nine  dollars  per  week. 

Respectfully  yours, 


Hew  York,    July?,    1916 

Messrs.  Brown- &  "Wilson 

549  Broadway          attention 
Mr.  .Johtt  Wilson 
V.   Y-   C- 


Dear  Sir, 

I  have  read  your  adverti3ement  in  the  Mornings  World  that  you 

are  in  need  of  an  stenographer. 

I  am  seventeen  years  of  age  and  was  graduated  from  P.  5. 
and  then  i  went  to  a  business  class  in  IKZB  and  learned  stenography 
foe  five  months-   I  did  not  work  in.  any  place  therefore.  Ihave  not  had 
any  experience  but  Iwlll  try  to  get  experience  if  you  will  try  me.  I 
wish  to  apply  for  the  position  for  as  much  a  salary  as  you  can  give  a 
'oig  inner. 

Hoping  that  you  willlet  ne  know  lanu 

very  truly  yours. 


59 


a 


* 

*^£<-C-t->tx^C7 


^^^y 


^f^ttz^l 
4 

^/^W^v 


/ 

t// 


61 


MR.  JOHN  WILSON 
Brown  and  Wilson 
549  Broadway 

New  York  City 

Dear  Sir: 

I  would  like  to  apply  for  the  position  of  stenographer,  I 
am  twenty  years  of  age.  Having  left  public  School  in  the  fifth 

grade.    Am  attending Business  School  for  the  past 

eight  months,  having  just  my  school  experience.    I  will  accept 
$9.00  a  week  to  start. 

Trusting  you  will  give  my  application  careful  considera- 
tion.    And  send  me  an  early  reply, 

Respectfully, 


MR.  JOHN  WILSON, 
549  Broadway, 

New  York  City. 

Dear  Sir : — 

In  looking  up  in  today's  "World3'  having  a  vacancy  for  a 
bookkeeper  and  typist. 
I  will  start  with  $7.00. 

I  went  in Business  School. 

Yours  truly, 


62 


MR.  JOHN  WILSON, 

c/o  Brown  &  Wilson 
549  B'way.  N.  Y.  C 

Dear  Sir: — 

Respectfully  apply  for  the  position  of  stenographer  at  your 
office. 

Am  twenty  (20)  years  of  age,  honest,  willing,  and  ambii- 
tious. 

Have    graduated    from    an    academic    high  school.     Also, 

studied  stenography  and  typewriting  at  for  six 

months. 

Am  a  speedy  and  accurate  stenographer.  Have  had  a  few 
years  experience  in  same,  and  have  references  to  show  that 
I  am  Al. 

Desire  $15.00  per  week  at  the  start. 

Trusting,  that  you  will  call  for  me,  and  test  my  abilities, 
I  am, 

Yours  very  truly, 


MR.  JOHN  WILSON, 

c/o   Messrs.   Brown  &  Wilson   Co., 

549  Broadway, 

New  York  City. 

Dear  Sir: 

Beg  to  make  application  for  a  position  as  stenographer  with 
your  firm. 

Am  a  Christian  young  lady  20  years  of  age,  with  one  year's 

high  school  education ;  also  a  graduate  of Business 

College. 

Was  employed  in  the  accident  insurance  business  for  over 
four  years,  acting  in  the  capacity  of  policy-writer  for  three 
years,  and  stenographer  and  dictaphone  operator  for  the 
remainder  of  the  time. 

Would  appreciate  a  salary  of  $12.00. 

Hoping  to  receive  a  favorable  reply  at  your  earliest  con- 
venience, I  am, 

Yours  truly, 

63 


Some  letters,  in  other  respects  fairly  good,  have  disclosed 
in  the  opening  sentences  the  writer's  ignorance.  Others 
with  unconscious  irony  used  poor  English  in  the  very 
phrase  that  makes  a  request  for  high  wages.  Illustrations 
of  both  sorts  are  cited : 

"Hearing  of  an  omition  in  your  place  for  a  stenogra- 
pher, I  would  like  to  apply  for  the  position." 

"In  applying  for  a  position  as  a  stenographer  in  your 
concern,  I  am  sixteen  years  of  age!3 

"On   seeing  your  advertisement  in  the  todays  world 
would  apply  for  the  position  as  stenographer." 

"In  answer  to  your  letter  as  a  stenographer  beg  to  say 
I  am  17  years  old." 

"I  have  formerly  been  getting  $10.00  per  week  and 
which  salary  I  now  desire." 

"The  amount  of  salary  /  believe  to  deserve  is  $10.00 
per  week." 

"Being  that  I  had  some  experience  I  would  like  $10.00." 

"Referring  to  salary,  I  would  expect  Ten  Dollars  for 
Start." 

"I  am  looking  for  a  position  as  stenographer,  type- 
writter,  office  routine  and  detailed  work    $15/1800." 

The  paragraphs  of  comment  were,  on  the  whole,  much 
worse  than  the  letters.  The  reason  may  be  that  special 
training  is  commonly  given  in  the  letter  form.  In  many 
cases  a  letter  written  in  fairly  good  English  was  followed 
by  a  paragraph  of  extremely  poor  construction.  We  wonder 
if  anyone  can  read  these  statements  without  being  stirred  to 
do  something  to  prevent  the  teaching  of  stenography  to 
such  unprepared  young  pupils.  The  comment,  apart  from 
its  test  value,  gives  us  the  opinion  of  young  office  workers 
relative  to  High  School  education,  as  we  have  already 

64 


pointed  out.  Workers  who  have  had  a  year  or  more  of 
experience,  are  in  a  position  to  check  up  their  advantages 
and  handicaps  with  whatever  the  demands  of  business  may 
have  been ;  and  it  is  worth  while  to  know  what  these  work- 
ers think.  It  was  to  be  expected,  perhaps,  that  those  who 
had  attended  High  School  should,  as  a  rule,  speak  of  its 
merits,  and  that  not  a  few  of  those  who  had  no  High  School 
education  should  confess  a  deeply  felt  need  for  it.  Some 
applicants  understood  the  question  to  call  for  a  comparison 
of  public  and  private  commercial  schools.  The  following 
quotations  illustrate  faults  in  English.  The  succeeding  ones 
give  the  most  clearly  expressed  comments  regarding  the  office 
worker's  needs  in  education.  The  italics  are  ours. 

Examples  of  Deficient  English: 

1  "Referring  to  the  education  of  a  stenographer  in 

either  High  School  or  Business  School,  it  is 
splendid.  Prepares  a  person  ready  for  the  busi- 
ness life  and  not  only  that  but  it  is  a  very  good 
thing  to  know.  In  case  of  a  hurry  and  are  in  need 
of  copyng  a  letter,  just  take  it  dozvn  in  shorthand. 
The  High  School  as  far  as  being  concerned  I  think 
teach  it  much  better  the  class  as  a  whole  all  keep 
to-gether,  and  being  in  Business  School  you  take  it 
up  yourself  the  teacher  is  just  there  to  see  and  to 
correct  you  if  a  mistake  is  made. 
But  taking  it  all  to-gether  they  are  both  very 
good." 

2  "I  believe  a  person  having  a  good  high  school  educa- 

tion, aids  them  in  being  a  good  stenographer;  for 
the  following  reasons;  that  one  mind  is  broadened 
and  is  more  capable  of  filling  a  good  position,  and 
also  makes  one  more  intelligent!' 

3  "In  being  a  stenographer  with  a  high  school  educa- 

tion, I  think  that  a  firm  would  be  more  successful 
with  same,  as  she  has  more  facts  about  that  course, 
that  is,  more  broad  minded  as  (has)  she  has  had 
more  years  of  training  than  a  business  school  steno- 
grapher has. 

65 


A  high  school  stenographer  before  she  finishes  her 
course,  she  has  to  pass  a  regents  exams,  and  that 
makes  her  more  capable  of  fulfilling  this  position." 

4  "High  School  education  will  help  us  a  great,  if  we 
ever  wish  to  become  a  stenographer,  why — because 
English  is  the  only  important  factor,  whether  we 
are  extremely  rapid  typist,  really  the  whole  of  it 
rest  on  our  ability  as  perfect  spellers,  and  a  clear 
knowledge  of  English,  and  our  memory  and  power 
of  concentration,  proofing  that  high  school  does 
give  us  the  chance  to  improve  our  spelling  and  the 
power  of  memorizing." 

Opinions  on  the  Need  for  High  School  Education: 

1  "I  believe  the  value  of  a   High  School  education 

to  a  stenographer  is  not  realized  until  she  enters 
a  business  life.  The  ability  to  recognize  and  cor- 
rect an  ungrammatical  sentence  hurriedly  dic- 
tated, saves  the  employer  many  irritating  mo- 
ments and  enables  the  stenographer  to  feel  that 
her  education  has  been  of  some  use,  tho  in  a 
small  way." 

2  "The  high  school  graduate  has  not  only  had  time 

to  become  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  spelling 
of  ordinary,  every-day,  words  but  has  had  many 
opportunities  to  learn  a  large  number  of  new 
ones,  so  that  she  does  not  have  to  waste  her  em- 
ployer's time  whenever  there  is  a  word  at  all 
unusual.  This  alone  would  be  enough  to  show 
the  superiority  of  a  high  school  graduate." 

3  "Does  a  stenographer,  to  be  a  good  stenographer, 

require  a  high  school  education?  This  is  a  ques- 
tion that  has  been  asked  many  times. 
It  is  my  opinion  that  a  high  school  education, 
while  a  very  valuable  asset,  is  not  an  absolute 
necessity.  True,  to  be  a  thoroughly  efficient 
stenographer,  one  must  be  able  to  spell,  must 
know  at  least  the  fundamentals  of  grammar,  and 
have  a  fairly  good  command  of  English.  Eight 
years  of  conscientious  study  in  the  elementary 

66 


school  should  be  a  pretty  fair  starter;  a  little 
studying  each  evening  at  home,  and  the  library, 
with  its  wonderful  opportunities,  should  enable 
everyone  to  obtain  this  knowledge,  if  he  really 
desires  to  improve  himself  and  thus,  of  course, 
better  his  opportunities." 

4  "I  did  not  go  to  high  school^  but  I  think  it  would 
have  been  better,  if  I  would  have  gone  there.  Be- 
cause I  see  other  girls  that  are  stenographers  and 
graduates  of  High  School  are  better  off  than  I 
am.  They  are  better  because  they  get  a  better 
education  there  than  in  any  business  school." 

Private  and  Public  Commercial  Schools  Compared: 

1  "My    opinion    of    the    education    given    in    High 

School  is  that  in  High  School  one  cannot  get 
familiar  with  the  business  world  so  well  as  in 
business  schools.  In  High  School,  teachers  have 
not  the  time  to  go  out  and  find  the  real  style  of 
business  teaching,  because  they  teach  other  sub- 
jects as  well  as  commercial  subjects.  In  business 
school  you  come  in  contact  with  business  people, 
therefore  I  would  advise  girls  to  go  to  business 
schools  and  finish  their  course  in  a  few  months, 
and  they  will  know  just  as  much  as  a  High 
School  graduate." 

2  "A  high   school   education   is   a   valuable   asset  to 

any  stenographer.  First,  because  the  study  of 
English  is  given  a  prominent  part  in  the  curricu- 
lum of  studies,  and  a  knowledge  of  English  is 
essential  to  a  good  stenographer. 
Second,  because  stenography  and  typewriting  are 
taught  more  slowly,  and  for  that  reason  better, 
than  is  possible  in  business  schools.  Last,  for 
the  reason  that  a  girl  is,  in  the  majority  of  cases 
seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age  when  she 
graduates,  and  a  business  school  graduate  is 
about  fifteen." 

3  "I  think  a  High  School  education  is  very  good. 

You  have  plenty  of  time  and  there  is  no  hurry 

67 


and  scramble  to  get  through  the  work  as  you 
can't  finish  before  the  rest.  Then  you  are  sure 
that  the  teachers  are  not  trying  to  push  you 
through  as  it  is  neither  their  gain  or  loss.  Indi- 
vidual training'  (advertised  by  private  commer- 
cial schools)  is  not  good.  Class  work  is  better 
because  many  times  you  think  you  understand 
and  when  a  girl  asks  a  question  you  profit  by 
her  mistakes  .  .  .  ." 

4  "The  environment  at  high  school  freshens  up  the 

stenographer  and  it  is  that  which  puts  an  inter- 
est in  her  work,  as  for  inst.  the  teachers,  the  so- 
cial, athletic  and  literary  activities  of  the  school, 
the  comrades,  all  are  of  the  best  source  as  only 
the  Board  of  Education  would  allow  and  supply  ; 
these  put  together  make  up  a  full  fledged  sten- 
ographer in  due  time." 

5  "High  School  education  in  the  equipment  of  a 

stenographer  is  very  good.  My  reasons  for  this 
opinion  are  in  the  first  place  you  have  the  regu- 
lar school  hours  and  I  think  the  teachers  take 
more  time  and  have  more  patience  in  explaining 
a  subject  more  thoroughly  and  the  pupils  are  not 
so  afraid  to  ask  questions  when  they  do  not  un- 
derstand the  subject  being  explained  the  first 
time." 

6  "In  the  business  world,  we  find  the  more  we  know 

of  other  things  than  stenography,  the  more  fitted 
we  are  for  the  position  we  hold.  In  high  school, 
we  learn  how  to  increase  our  vocabulary,  the  use 
of  English,  and  other  studies  necessary  for  prog- 
ress in  business." 


INTENSIVE  STUDY  OF  ONE  SCHOOL'S  PRODUCT. 

The  product  of  one  private  commercial  school  has  been 
made  an  object  of  special  study.  The  school  selected  was 
one  which  we  believed  to  be  fairly  representative  of  a  large 
number  of  ordinary,  moderate-priced  schools  which  offer 

68 


no  special  inducements  and  exercise  no  special  discrimina- 
tion in  the  kind  of  pupils  they  undertake  to  instruct.  It  is 
one  of  the  largest  schools  in  New  York  and  it  has  been 
established  here  for  a  number  of  years.  The  pupils  come 
"from  everywhere,"  as  its  manager  states,  although  nearly 
all  live  within  the  boundaries  of  Greater  New  York.  Prob- 
ably the  clientele  is  as  cosmopolitan  as  that  of  any  school 
in  the  city.  The  employment  bureau  records,  upon  which 
we  have  based  statistical  studies  in  the  first  part  of  this 
chapter,  give  information  for  a  total  of  185  girl  office  work- 
ers who  have  gone  out  from  this  school  since  1913.  The 
diagrams  which  follow  set  forth  this  information.  Eighty 
per  cent  of  the  group  took  their  business  training  course 
soon  after  leaving  elementary  school.  We  can,  therefore, 
conclude  that  many  of  those  who  were  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  registration  at  the  employment 
bureaus,  must  have  had,  when  they  came  to  the  bureaus  one 
year  or  two  years  of  experience  in  wage  earning.  In  many 
cases,  those  who  were  over  eighteen  must  have  had  ex- 
perience of  more  than  two  years'  duration.  Diagram  IV  shows 
that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  workers  studied  were  over 
seventeen  years  of  age. 

DIAGRAM  IV. 

Under  15  years        1.7 


15  and  16  years    29.7 


17  and  18  years    49.7  [ 


Over  18  years        1B.9  [_ 


Analysis   of    185   records   of   office   workers  trained   in  one   school.      Shows  age 
of   persons   represented  in   Diagrams  V,   VI,  VII. 

69 


The  records  contain  information  for  293  positions  held  by 
these  185  workers.  Diagrams  V,  VI  and  VII,  showing  the 
kinds  of  positions,  their  duration  and  the  wages  received  in 
them,  are  presented  in  such  a  manner  that  they  may  be 
compared;  and  they  should  be  considered,  also,  in  relation 
to  the  facts  about  age  shown  by  Diagram  IV.  A  summary 
of  the  findings  might  be  put  thus :  The  majority  of  work- 
ers included  in  this  study  were  over  seventeen  years  of  age. 
The  majority  of  positions  held  by  these  workers  made 
definite  use  of  stenographic  or  bookkeeping  training;  but 
the  majority  of  positions  were  held  for  less  than  six  months 
and  compensated  by  less  than  $8.  A  close  study  of  the 
wage  figures  shows  that  three  per  cent  of  the  positions 
received  less  than  $6. 

DIAGRAMS  V,  VI,  VII. 

V. 

KINDS  OF  POSITIONS  HELD. 


Stenography      ^  Q 
Book-keeping 

Clerical  22.1 

Other 


VI. 

DURATION  OF  POSITIONS. 


Less  than  6  mos.  50.5 


6  mos.  to  1  year  27.0 


1  year  and  over    22.5  I 

70 


VII. 

WAGES  RECEIVED. 
Under  $6  8.7    f  I 


$6  and  $7       48.6    |                                                                                                               1 

$8  and  $9       30.2    | 

; 

$10  and  over    12.5    [ 


Analysis  of  293  positions.     Held  by   185   office  workers  trained  in  one  school. 

We  have  visited  at  their  homes  and  interviewed  person- 
ally twenty  girls  whom  this  school  has  trained.  Those  girls 
were  chosen  whose  application  at  the  employment  bureaus  had 
been  recent  and  whose  addresses  were  most  clearly  re- 
corded; thus  they  constitute  what  is  practically  a  random 
list.  They  live  in  several  sections  of  the  city  and  attended 
the  school  at  periods  which  for  the  most  part  do  not  coin- 
cide ;  for  these  reasons  we  conclude  that  these  girls  probably 
do  not  know  one  another  in  more  than  an  occasional  in- 
stance. Yet  certain  phases  of  their  comment,  dealing  with 
the  honor  rather  than  the  educational  calibre  of  the  school, 
met  striking  corroboration.  The  idea  is  prevalent  among 
these  students  that  the  school  is  not  honest  in  financial  mat- 
ters, large  or  small ;  that  pupils  may  be  failed  purposely  in 
order  that  more  tuition  money  may  be  received  and  that,  to 
this  end,  final  examinations  are  given  only  at  intervals  of 
two  weeks  or  more.  While  it  may  generally  be  considered 
to  the  credit  of  a  school  not  to  graduate  students  until  they 
are  ready  for  graduation,  we  are  led  to  believe  that  some 
other  element  than  the  student's  advantage  may  enter,  in 
the  case  of  this  particular  school;  for,  in  the  course  of  all 

71 


our  follow-up  interviews  with  students  of  other  schools,  no 
accusations  were  offered  such  as  the  students  of  this  school, 
almost  without  exception,  made.  It  was  further  charged  by 
the  students  that  undue  profit  is  gained  from  the  books  and 
supplies  which  the  school  compels  the  students  to  purchase 
from  its  stock.  We  selected  this  school  for  special  study, 
as  we  have  said,  because  we  believed  it  was  a  typical,  aver- 
age school.  We  cannot  now  consider,  however,  that  it 
is  average  in  so  far  as  the  students'  relation  to  it  is  con- 
cerned. In  only  one  school  included  in  our  investigation 
was  such  criticism  encountered. 

Students'  opinions  regarding  the  quality  of  instruction 
were  less  in  agreement ;  and  when  divergence  occurs  among 
so  small  a  group  as  twenty  we  cannot  attach  much  significance 
to  what  is  said.  We  should  make  it  clear,  however,  that 
several  of  those  who  condemned  the  school's  practices  in 
financial  matters  commended  the  instruction.  A  survey  of 
the  opinions  of  the  group  showed  five  pupils  who  endorsed 
the  school  on  the  ground  of  scholarship,  eight  who  said  it 
should  not  be  endorsed  on  any  ground,  and  seven  who  re- 
frained from  committing  themselves.  Of  those  five  who 
stated,  in  answer  to  a  direct  question,  that  they  would 
recommend  the  school,  it  should  be  said  that  one  has  never 
held  or  wished  to  hold  an  office  position  and  so  has  had  no 
real  opportunity  to  test  her  training ;  and  one  was  reported 
upon  as  inefficient  when  her  employer  was  visited. 

The  interviews  with  some  of  those  students  who  do  not 
favor  the  school  either  in  its  policy  or  its  methods  of  in- 
struction, are  here  quoted  from  our  records  verbatim : 

Frances  L. — Thinks  the  instruction  was  good  on  the  whole. 
Had  some  trouble  at  first  in  learning  the  ways  of  her  employer 
but  thinks  this  was  to  be  expeted.  Said  in  criticism  that  the 
school  makes  too  much  profit  on  stationery  and  supplies;  and 
that  if  one  does  not  "watch  out"  there  are  likely  to  be  mis- 

72 


takes  in  the  monthly  bills  to  the  student's  disadvantage. 
Claimed  she  had  known  of  instances  in  which  an  extra  quar- 
ter of  a  term  was  incorrectly  charged.  Said,  "If  you  object 
to  a  mistake  and  can  point  out  exactly  what  is  wrong,  the 
school  will  correct  it." 

Rose  B. — The  girl's  mother  did  most  of  the  talking.  She 
exclaimed,  "All  dat  money,  all  dat  money,  and  no  help  from  de 
school !  What  dey  do  for  you  ?  Nothing."  Rose's  objection 
was  that  the  school  was  commercial  in  its  spirit ;  that  it  failed  to 
find  positions ;  that  the  instruction  was  not  very  thorough  and 
that  the  school  tried  its  best  to  "keep  you  back."  She  said  that, 
when  students  take  examinations  at  the  end  of  each  set  of 
lessons,  "they  try  to  fail  you  and  they  fail  you  extra." 

Rose  W. — This  girl,  tall,  lanky  and  sharp-faced,  said,  "I 
didn't  like  that  school  very  well.  I  did  not  care  much  for  the 
teachers;  they  did  not  pay  any  attention  to  you  but  you  had 
to  go  ahead  and  get  it  all  yourself.  They  tried  to  hold  you 
back,  you  know.  If  you  don't  pass  your  final  examination  you 
have  to  pay  a  month  extra." 

Elsie  B. — Stated  that  it  is  the  plan  at  this  school  to  advance 
pupils  from  one  shorthand  teacher  to  another  whenever  a  cer- 
tain speed  is  reached.  There  are  four  teachers  in  all  and  this 
changing  about,  Elsie  said,  is  confusing  because  all  teachers  do 
not  write  alike  even  when  the  same  system  is  used.  She  se- 
cured her  first  position  herself  but  did  not  get  along  very  well 
because  she  was  nervous  in  taking  dictation.  She  said,  "Em- 
ployers talk  first  fast  and  then  slow,  while  the  dictation  at 
school  is  measured  by  a  watch." 

Rose  K. — A  gnome-like  little  person,  dwarfed  almost  to  the 
point  of  deformity.  "If  I  would  'a'  known,"  she  said,  "I  never 
would  have  gone  to  no  business  school.  I  was  going  around 

73 


mont'  after  mont'  and  couldn't  get  no  position,  so  I  lost  all  my 

speed.    Some  schools,  like ,  shows  you  different  tings, 

like  de  filings,  and  all  dat,  but  not  dis  school."  When  asked 
why  she  had  gone  she  said,  "De  agent  boddered  me  so." 

Clara  K. — This  girl  said  she  had  "some  experience  in  High 
School"  but  had  to  stop  because  her  father  failed  in  business. 
"I  got  through  at  business  school  before  six  months  were  up," 
she  said.  'They  couldn't  keep  me  back."  "Did  they  try?" 
she  was  asked.  "Yes,  they  did.  They  tried  to  keep  me  from 
taking  the  examinations.  When  I  had  nearly  finished  the  final 
examination  the  teacher  called  me  to  the  telephone  and  then 
refused  to  let  me  make  up  the  time,  and  because  of  this  she 
said  I  must  wait  and  take  it  all  over  again." 

Lena  S. — Undersized  and  apparently  unhealthy.  Apart- 
ment poor  yet  not  indicative  of  extreme  poverty.  Talked  fast 
and  eagerly  against  the  school  and  had  nothing  good  to  say  of 
it.  Said,  "They  skin  you  something  fierce;  they  make  girls 
stay  on  week  after  week  by  telling  them  that  they  did  not  pass 
the  examinations.  If  you  do  not  pass  in  the  fourth  speed  class 
you  have  to  remain  in  school  two  more  weeks  before  they  give 
the  examination  again."  She  said  also,  "They  skin  you  for 
stationery." 

Helen  W. — Her  objection  to  the  school  is  that  it  is  unfair  in 
keeping  pupils  too  long,  so  as  to  obtain  more  money  from  them. 
Said  she  had  completed  the  necessary  work  and  was  ready  for 
the  final  test  but  was  prevented  by  the  school  from  taking  it, 
first  by  one  excuse  and  then  another.  Finally  her  mother  went 
to  the  school  and  showed  the  assistant  some  papers  the  daugh- 
ter had  brought  home  from  the  school,  complaining  that  they 
were  marked  too  strictly.  The  assistant  admitted  that  the 
mistakes  were  slight  but  merely  said  that  the  principal  was 
away  and  urged  that  the  daughter  remain  two  weeks  longer. 

74 


The  mother  refused  to  allow  this  and  the  girl  has  therefore  no 
diploma.  She  said,  however,  that  the  teaching  was  good  and 
that  she  was  "thoroughly  grounded  in  stenography." 

An  attempt  was  made  to  interview  the  first  employers  of 
a  number  of  this  school's  students.  We  included,  among 
others,  employers  of  the  twenty  girls  we  had  visited  in  order 
that  we  might  view  the  statements  of  these  girls  from  the  em- 
ployers' standpoint.  As  in  other  follow-up  work,  those 
names  were  chosen  for  which  we  had  most  recent  informa- 
tion and  for  which  addresses  were  most  definitely  stated. 
Our  effort  to  find  forty  employers  was  successful  in  thirty-one 
instances,  although  three  of  these  persons  could  not  recall 
the  employee  inquired  for.  Those  who  were  not  seen  had 
moved,  terminated  their  business  or  could  neither  be  found 
nor  traced.  The  comments  made  by  employers  show  in- 
stances of  satisfaction  as  well  as  complaint.  In  fourteen 
cases  girls  were  spoken  of  favorably  and  in  nine  cases  un- 
favorably; in  five  cases  the  employers  could  remember  no 
more  about  a  girl  than  the  kind  of  position  she  had  held  or 
the  simple  fact  that  she  had  at  one  time  been  employed. 
But,  in  order  that  the  comments  of  employers  may  be  bet- 
ter understood,  we  should  state  that  ten  of  the  employees 
in  question  held  clerical  positions  in  which  their  steno- 
graphic or  bookkeeping  training  was  not  used ;  and  several 
of  the  employers  were  illiterate  men  who  maintain  small 
and  somewhat  undesirable  offices.  We  were  able  to  secure 
interviews  with  the  employers  of  only  four  of  the  girls 
quoted  above.  Paraphrases  of  the  remarks  of  these  employ- 
ers follow: 

Mr.  C.,  Manufacturer,  Regarding  Frances  I. — "She  ain't 
what  I  call  first  class.  She  could  read  her  notes  back  but  was 
slow  about  it.  Her  typewriting  could  have  been  a  good  deal 
improved."  He  said,  however,  that  she  was  capable  of  learn- 
ing and  would  not  have  been  discharged  if  the  firm  had  not 
dissolved. 

75 


Mr.  B.,  Agent,  Regarding  Rose  B. — He  remembered  Miss 
B.  as  a  good  average  girl  sufficiently  prepared  in  English.  She 
was  able  to  take  thirty  to  fifty  letters  daily  and  to  transcribe 
them  acceptably. 

Mr.  F.,  Manufacturer,  Regarding  Rose  W. — "She  wasn't 
efficient  or  alert ;  she  was  unbusinesslike  and  slow.  She  could 
not  be  called  competent;  yet  she  could  read  her  notes,  could 
get  up  a  good  letter  and  she  had  ability  to  learn  to  improve." 

Mr.  K.,  Lawyer,  Regarding  Elsie  B. — It  was  not  possible, 
he  said,  to  state  that  Elsie  B.  had  been  desirable  as  a  steno- 
grapher. "She  had  no  speed  at  all,"  he  asserted.  She  was  dis- 
charged because  of  inefficiency.  "She  could  not  do  the  work 
for  us,"  he  said  in  conclusion. 

The  wage-earning  experience  of  the  185  students  of  this 
selected  school  is  shown  to  be  similar  in  a  general  way  to 
that  of  the  large  group  of  1035  workers,  discussed  earlier  in 
this  chapter,  who  represent  training  in  a  variety  of  schools, 
The  chief  difference  is  that  the  small  group  of  185  held  a 
higher  percentage  of  positions  in  which  stenographic  or 
bookkeeping  training  was  useful;  but  it  is  also  true  that  a 
higher  percentage  of  their  positions  were  of  short  duration. 
Wages  for  the  two  groups  show  little  divergence.  Our  con- 
clusion, based  upon  this  investigation  as  a  whole,  is  that 
so  long  as  private  schools  continue,  without  check,  to  try 
to  impose  commercial  training  upon  pupils  of  any  degree  of 
illiteracy  or  unsuitability,  just  so  long  will  employers  be 
hampered  by  the  blundering  inefficiency  of  the  newest  sten- 
ographic assistants,  and  the  city  be  filled  with  discouraged 
hundreds  of  position-seeking  young  people. 


76 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

1.  A  considerable  proportion  of  the  young  people  in  New 
York  City  who  invest  time  and  money  in  commercial 
education   become   discouraged   job-seekers   or   accept 
work  they  could  have  done  without  special  training. 
The  fault  lies  not  so  much  in  the  quality  of  their  sten- 
ographic or  bookkeeping  training  as  in  their  deficiency 
in  English  composition  or  their  personal  unsuitability. 
They  are  persons  whom  the  private  schools  should  never 
have  accepted  for  training. 

2.  Private  commercial  schools  should  in  some  way  be  made 
to  feel  responsible,  as  they  do  not  now  do,  for  the  num- 
bers of  persons  who  enter  upon  but  are  incapable  of  com- 
pleting their  courses.    Published  lists  of  enrollments  and 
graduations  for  each  year,  or  unpublished  lists  sent  to 
the  State  Department  of  Education,  would  call  attention 
to  this  situation  wherever  it  exists. 


77 


CHAPTER   4. 
SOLICITATION  OF  PUPILS. 


Private  commercial  school  solicitation  of  eighth  grade 
pnpils  about  to  be  graduated  from  public  schools  is 
general.  Of  1,952  such  children,  in  24  school  districts, 
1,288  were  reached  by  agents  or  through  the  mails.  This 
soliciting  was  done  by  46  different  private  commercial 
schools. 

As  many  as  twelve  private  commercial  schools  have 
operated  at  the  same  time  in  a  single  school  district. 
There  is  more  solicitation  of  girls  than  of  boys. 

Names  and  addresses  of  pupils  about  to  be  graduated 
are  secured  from  school  children,  from  name  brokers, 
or  by  disguised  advertising. 

Most  solicitors  work  on  commission  and  have  no  other 
connection  with  the  school  which  employs  them.  They 
can  make  verbal  contracts  which  the  school  later  may 
not  uphold. 

Arguments  used  most  effectively  by  agents  are  the 
shortness  of  the  course,  the  futility  of  High  School  educa- 
tion or  training,  the  undesirability  of  doing  factory  work, 
and  the  guarantee  of  a  position. 

Public  school  efforts  to  present  High  School  oppor- 
tunities are  varied;  the  printed  information  is  academic. 


"We  are  obliged  to  send  paid  solicitors  into  the  field  to 
correct  the  statements  made  against  us  by  the  representa- 
tives of  competitive  schools" — one  school  proprietor  said 
when  asked  about  his  methods  in  securing  pupils.  In  a 
number  of  instances  our  investigation  has  indicated  that 
such  an  assertion  as  this  may  have  very  real  foundation. 
Unscrupulous  methods  between  rival  schools  have  been 
brought  to  light  to  a  greater  extent  in  connection  with  so- 
licitation of  pupils  than  in  any  other  way.  One  method,  in 
common  use  among  certain  schools,  is  inter-employment  of 

Chapter  4  is  based  upon  the  following  data: 

Interviews  with  1952  children  about  to  be  graduated  from  public  elementary 
schools.  These  represent  29  public  schpols  located  in  24  districts  of  Manhattan 
and  the  Bronx.  Records  made,  in  detail. 

Interviews  with  principals  of  20  public  elementary  schools  of  Manhattan  and  the 
Bronx.  Records  made,  in  detail. 

78 


soliciting  agents.  In  order  to  secure  the  names  of  possible 
pupils,  to  cover  a  rival's  territory  or  to  know  how  to  anni- 
hilate a  rival's  chief  arguments,  a  school  may  induce  the 
rival's  solicitor  to  become  its  own  employee.  For  example, 
we  interviewed  a  girl  of  twenty,  a  bright,  vigorous  Russian, 
who  had  been  employed  successively  by  four  schools.  These 
were  located  near  together  and  all  drew  upon  the  same  area 
for  their  patronage.  Of  course  she  was  under  the  necessity 
of  telling  children  that  that  school  was  the  best  which  hap- 
pened at  the  moment  to  be  employing  her.  The  record 
states : 

Miss  B  began  by  working  for  Mr.  I.  Soon  Mr.  J,  a 
teacher  in  Mr.  I's  school,  decided  to  open  a  school 
of  his  own  and  persuaded  Miss  B  to  work  for  him. 
Several  weeks  later  she  sued  Mr.  J  for  withholding 
part  of  her  pay,  and  won  the  case.  She  believes 
Mr.  J.  withheld  the  pay  in  order  to  prevent  her 
leaving  him.  One  day,  while  she  was  working  for 
Mr.  J,  she  and  a  representative  from  the  K  school 
had  met  in  a  public  school  pupil's  house,  both  labor- 
ing for  the  pupil's  patronage.  Miss  B  said  she  se- 
cured the  girl  and  also  the  admiration  of  the  rival 
solicitor.  He  said  to  her,  "If  you  ever  want  a  job, 
come  to  me.  I  am  the  manager  at  K's."  Therefore 
when  Miss  B  left  Mr.  J.  she  applied  to  the  K  school, 
was  accepted  and  remained  three  years.  Her  next 
employment  was  in  the  L  school,  the  most  ener- 
getic rival  the  K  school  has.  She  said  that  in  both 
L  and  K  schools  she  was  expected  to  "take  liber- 
ties with  the  truth"  and  to  speak  compromisingly 
of  other  schools. 

Twenty-two  proprietors  of  private  commercial  schools 
discussed  with  us  the  general  subject  of  solicitation.  Ten 
of  the  number,  representing  chiefly  the  smaller  schools, 
stated  that  they  do  not  employ  soliciting  agents.  Eleven 
proprietors  admitted  that  they  have  such  agents;  but  one 
of  these  proprietors  qualified  his  statement  by  saying  that 
an  agent  is  sent  only  in  response  to  inquiries  for  informa- 

79 


tion.  One  proprietor  secures  most  of  his  pupils  by  personal 
solicitation,  but  the  visits  are  made  by  teachers  in  the  school 
instead  of  by  agents.  If  soliciting  is  to  be  done,  the  use  of 
teachers  is  commendable ;  for  there  is  little  likelihood  that  a 
teacher,  whom  a  pupil  will  see  and  know  when  he  comes  to 
school,  will  make  promises  that  are  not  to  be  fulfilled.  The 
paid  agent  works  on  a  commission  basis,  as  a  rule ;  and,  in 
his  eagerness  to  persuade  children  to  sign  application 
blanks,  he  can  exaggerate  and  guarantee  without  check  if  he 
desires.  He  may  even  make  a  verbal  contract  for  a  reduced 
cost  for  the  course,  which  the  school  will  not  be  bound  to 
uphold.  The  experience  here  recorded  illustrates  what  has 
happened : 

The  mother  of  the  girl  who  was  being  interviewed 
became  very  much  excited  when  the  M  school  was 
mentioned.  She  said,  "You  can't  trust  them. 
They  sent  a  man  here  and  he  told  me  if  my  girl 
started  in  August  she  could  have  summer  rates  and 
we  could  get  the  whole  course  for  $50.  Instead  of 
that  the  school  sent  me  a  bill  for  more  money  and 
in  the  end  I  had  paid  $70."  Her  claim  for  reduc- 
tion, promised  by  the  solicitor,  received  no  recog- . 
nition  from  the  management  of  the  school.  Elsie, 
the  daughter,  stated  that  the  man  came  often  when 
he  was  trying  to  secure  her  for  the  school  and  that 
he  was  sometimes  intoxicated.  She  told  the  man- 
ager of  the  school  about  this  and  he  said  he  in- 
tended to  discharge  him.  Later  the  man  was  dis- 
charged and  became  the  agent  of  the  N,  a  rival 
school.  He  returned  then  to  see  Elsie  and  persist- 
ently tried  to  persuade  her  to  change  to  the  N 
school,  although  she  was  well  along  in  her  course 
in  the  M  school  already  chosen. 

SOLICITATION  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  CHILDREN. 

In  June,  1916,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, an  inquiry  was  made  into  the  methods  and  extent  of 
private  commercial  school  solicitation  in  so  far  as  it  affects 


children  in  8-B  classes  about  to  be  graduated.  We  inter- 
viewed 1952  children.  These  were  boys  and  girls  in  gradu- 
ation classes  of  all  the  school  districts  of  Manhattan  and  the 
Bronx,  except  two.  Our  failure  to  cover  the  first  and  second 
districts  was  a  matter  of  circumstance  rather  than  intention. 
We  found  that  1288  children  had  been  reached,  and  by  a 
total  of  forty-six  different  private  commercial  schools. 
Agents  had  come  to  their  homes  from  more  than  half  these 
schools ;  and  letters,  circulars  and  other  advertising  material 
had  been  sent  by  all  of  them.  One  child  had  been  reached 
by  nine  schools;  most  children  had  been  reached  by  five  or 
six.  Usually,  in  girls'  classes,  90  to  100  per  cent,  of  the 
pupils  had  been  communicated  with  in  some  way;  but  in 
boys'  classes  the  percentage  was  lower.  The  school  districts 
most  solicited  are  in  Harlem;  the  two  least  solicited  dis- 
tricts cover,  one  the  outskirts  of  the  Bronx  and  the  other 
a  section  of  Manhattan  which  has  a  fairly  large  negro  popu- 
lation. In  a  number  of  instances  as  many  as  twelve  private 
commercial  schools  were  found  active  in  a  single  school 
district. 

School  proprietors,  as  a  rule,  assert  with  frankness  that 
they  purchase  names  of  elementary  school  graduates  from 
dealers.  The  investigation  has  procured  from  school  chil- 
dren the  business  cards  of  two  of  these  "name  brokers," 
both  of  which  have  post  office  addresses  in  Greater  New 
York.  Some  schools,  instead  of  buying  names,  get  them 
themselves  by  various  means.  One  school  conducted  in  a 
daily  paper  a  "popular  school  contest"  in  which  only  mem- 
bers of  elementary  school  graduation  classes  might  partici- 
pate. Voters  were  asked  to  send  their  names  and  addresses. 
This  plan  provided  a  solicitation  list. 

A  number  of  children  reported  that  they  had  sold  to  deal- 
ers or  agents  lists  of  names  of  seventh  and  eighth  grade  stu- 
dents. The  usual  compensation  is  two  cents  a  name;  but  in 
one  case  $2  a  list  was  promised  and  in  several  cases  the 

81 


offered  reward  was  an  autograph  album.  Some  children 
reported  sending  names  and  receiving  no  pay  in  return. 
Children  who  gave  names  and  addresses  secured  them  as 
a  rule  by  inquiring  among  their  classmates.  Teachers  and 
janitors  as  well  as  pupils  have  been  asked  to  prepare  these 
lists. 

Some  business  schools  have  sent  directly  to  the  principal's 
office  supplies  of  blotters,  rulers  and  other  useful  trifles  car- 
rying the  advertising  of  the  school,  and  have  asked  to  have 
these  distributed.  So  far  as  we  know,  such  permission  is 
not  given.  In  other  cases,  representatives  have  placed  these 
things  in  piles  on  a  teacher's  desk  in  the  class-room  at  noon 
without  permission,  hoping  that  they  will  be  distributed 
during  the  afternoon  session.  A  few  elementary  school 
papers  have  carried  a  commercial  school's  advertisement. 

Various  forms  of  advertisements  were  left  at  homes  by 
agents,  or  sent  to  the  children  by  mail.  Among  these  forms 
were  rulers,  blotters,  buttons,  "dope"  capsules,  picture  pos- 
tals, graduation  congratulations,  invitations  to  dances,  appli- 
cation forms  on  postal  cards  addressed  to  the  school,  illus- 
trated booklets,  lists  and  pictures  of  graduates.  Refer- 
ence is  made  to  some  of  these  in  Chapter  5.  Two  schools 
gave  dances  to  the  children  of  elementary  graduation 
classes.  A  little  girl  of  fourteen  gave  the  report  first  quoted. 
The  second  report  was  offered  by  a  girl  of  like  age  who 
attended  the  dance  at  a  different  school. 

"Many  kids  were  there,  all  8-B  girls,  I  think,  except 
a  few  of  them  that  go  to  that  school  already.  There 
were  many  more  girls  than  boys.  It  was  very  hot 
and  crowded  and  they  were  screaming  from  the 
tops  of  their  voices  but  it  was  nice  decorated. 
Nine  o'clock  I  went  home,  but  I  heard  they  had 
later  refreshments." 

"I  knew  girls  who  went  to  the  dances  and  did  not 
come  home  until  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  alone. 
They  said  they  had  a  good  time." 

82 


The  influence  of  public  school  principals  and  teachers  is 
probably  to  be  connected  with  the  unfriendly  or  at  least 
disinterested  reception  which  the  children  in  many  instances 
claim  to  have  given  to  agents  or  to  advertising  propaganda. 
The  following  are  typical  remarks : 

"He  started  to  speak  but  my  mother  said  it  was  not 

necessary." 

"My  mother  shut  the  door  to  him." 
"I  never  took  any  interest." 
"I  did  not  care  to  look  at  it" — speaking1  of  a  circular. 

Many  of  the  children  whose  homes  had  been  visited  were 
not  at  home  at  the  time  the  agent  came  and  had  not  cared 
to  inquire  of  their  parents  what  he  had  said.  Some  of  those 
who  had  received  advertising  material  had  merely  glanced 
at  it  and  thrown  it  away  without  remembering  distinctly 
what  they  had  read ;  but  a  little  questioning  generally  drew 
from  the  children  some  idea  or  claim  which  had  impressed 
them.  The  following  quotations  from  the  records  will  illus- 
trate the  kinds  of  appeals  that  most  effectively  reached 
them: 

"Many  scholars  get  payable  positions." 

"The  principal  himself  teaches  in  the  classes." 

"He  said  it  was  very  clean  there." 

"He  said  they  treat  the  girls  very  nice." 

"Great  men  are  graduates  from  that  school." 

"I  could  come  a  few  days  free  to  try  if  I  like  it." 

"It  is  better  than  High  School  if  I  want  to  go  into 

business." 

"You  have  individual  instruction." 
"Two  futures  are  open.     One  for  the  working  girl — 
life  is  miserable;  one  for  the  business  girl — life  is 
enjoyable." 

A  statement  regarding  the  persistency  of  solicitors  in  call- 
ing is  difficult.  Agents  have  come  to  the  homes  in  the  chil- 
dren's absence  and  it  is  not  known  whether  they  were  repre- 

83 


sentatives  of  schools  which  had  already  reached  them  or  of 
other  schools.  In  one  school  district  a  woman  solicitor  is 
reported  to  have  called  upon  certain  children,  for  a  period, 
regularly  each  week.  We  have,  however,  considerable  evi- 
dence of  persistency  in  argument.  The  following  quotations 
illustrate  this: 

"He  talked  on  until  my  mother  got  tired  of  hearing 
him." 

"A  man  came  to  my  house  several  times.  He  would 
not  leave  until  my  father  signed  the  blank  that  if 
I  graduate  I  would  go  to  their  school." 

It  should  be  said  to  the  credit  of  certain  schools  that  they 
have  made  no  effort,  so  far  as  we  know,  to  dissuade  children 
from  their  plan  to  continue  their  general  education ;  and  we 
have  found  several  instances  of  a  solicitor's- positive  advice 
to  children  to  enter  high  school.  In  a  number  of  cases  a 
solicitor  has  told  a  child  she  is  too  small  for  business  school. 
But  in  the  case  of  the  majority  of  schools  which  employ  so- 
licitors, the  strongest  and  most  frequently  used  argument 
is  the  futility  or  unsuitability  of  a  high  school  course  for 
the  pupil  in  question.  The  following  are  typical  quotations 
showing  the  children's  report  of  what  solicitors  have  said. 

"High  School  is  not  right  for  girls  who  would  like  to 
help  their  mothers.  Business  school  gets  right  to 
work;  high  school  drags  it  along." 

"He'd  get  me  done  quicker  in  one  year  than  high 
school  would  in  three  years." 

"At  high  school  the  first  two  years  they  only  teach 
you  what  you  learn  in  the  elementary  schools, 
while  in  the  business  school  you  can  become  a 
bookkeeper  in  six  months." 

"He  said,  'You're  such  a  big  girl  you  should  go  to 
business  school.  You  could  get  almost  any  posi- 
tion/ ' 

84 


"High  School  takes  a  long  time  and  then  you  are  no 
good." 

"High  School  takes  four  years  and  girls  don't  keep 
single  so  long." 

"He  told  my  mother  that  he  thinks  business  school 
is  better  for  me  than  high  school,  being  that  I'm 
not  such  a  bright  girl." 

"He  said  I  should  go  to  business  school  because  I 
was  such  a  good  scholar,  in  fact  one  of  the  best 
pupils  in  my  class.  I  think  he  must  have  heard  it 
from  my  teacher." 

We  have  desired,  especially,  to  find  out  the  procedure  of 
solicitors  in  the  case  of  those  children  who  had  already  de- 
cided to  go  to  high  school.  We  find  our  records  complete 
enough  to  give  information  for  153  such  children.  Table  7 
shows  that  high  school  attendance  was  definitely  opposed 
in  more  than  half  the  cases. 

TABLE  7 :  PROCEDURE  OF  SOLICITORS  REGARDING  HIGH  SCHOOL 
EDUCATION.  SHOWS  ADVICE  TO  153  CHILDREN  WHO  HAD  PREVI- 
OUSLY DECIDED  TO  ENTER  HIGH  SCHOOL. 

Number  of  Number  of 

Children        Private  Commercial 
Advised       Schools  Represented 

Advised  against  attending  high  school    82  16 

Told  that  private  commercial  school 
is  as  good  as  high  school 14 

Not  dissuaded  from  attending  high 
school,  but  given  name  of  private 
commercial  school  and  told  that 
solicitor  would  call  again 22  9 

Not    dissuaded    from    attending   high 
school ;  solicitation  apparently  with-  . 
drawn    25  12 

Advised  to  attend  high  school  for  a 
while,  but  to  enter  private  commer- 
cial school  later 5  4 

Advised  to  attend  high  school 5  5 

85 


During  the  last  week  before  June  graduation  the  influ- 
ences which  favor  high  school  attendance  are  at  their  maxi- 
mum of  strength ;  moreover  the  members  of  the  graduation 
classes,  when  asked  about  their  plans,  know  that  the  answer 
which  will  please  their  principal  and  teachers  is  "High 
School."  We  do  not,  therefore,  attach  great  value  to  the 
information  we  gathered  concerning  the  success  of  solicita- 
tion. It  may  be  summarized  by  saying  that  the  proportion 
of  children  who  affirmed  that  they  were  going  to  private 
commercial  schools  was  small;  a  larger  proportion  were 
undecided  about  what  they  might  do.  Considerably  more 
than  one-half  proclaimed  their  intention  of  entering  high 
school.  The  real  answer  to  such  inquiry  is  to  be  found  in 
the  thousands  of  children  of  high  school  age  which  at  all 
times  make  up  the  enrollment  of  the  private  commercial 
schools. 

COUNTER-EFFORTS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

What  are  the  public  schools  doing  to  help  these  children 
make  wise  decisions  regarding  the  choice  of  commercial 
education  and  the  choice  among  sources  of  commercial  in- 
struction? What  are  they  doing  to  make  clear  the  oppor- 
tunities which  the  Board  of  Education  holds  out  to  gradu- 
ates of  elementary  schools?  In  each  public  school  in  which 
our  solicitation  inquiry  was  made,  the  principal  was  asked 
those  questions.  To  the  first  question,  an  answer  not  un- 
usual was,  "We  warn  them  against  the  private  schools  un- 
less we  know  about  a  reliable  school."  That  is,  the  princi- 
pals and  teachers  have  had  no  way  of  discriminating  among 
schools  and  have  sometimes  found  safety  in  warning  against 
all.  Some  suggestions  which  principals  and  teachers  may 
find  useful  in  advising  children,  are  to  be  found  in  Chapters 
5  and  6  of  this  report.  It  should  be  stated  also  that,  since 
these  interviews  were  held,  the  acting  superintendent  of 
schools  has  issued  a  statement  to  teachers  giving  them  some 

86 


general  instruction  on  the  points  we  have  just  described 
and  announcing  to  them  that  more  concrete  information 
will  be  sent  to  them  later. 

To  the  second  question,  various  answers  were  received. 
Most  principals  or  their  eighth  grade  teachers  talk  to  the 
children  early  in  the  term  in  regard  to  high  school  oppor- 
tunities.   A  bulletin  of  information  about  public  secondary 
education  is  received  from  the  Board  of  Education  period- 
ically, distributed  among  the  students  and  explained.    This 
is  discussed  also,  in  some  schools,  at  parents'  meetings.  The 
bulletin  is  concise  in  information,  however,  and  it  is  aca- 
demic in  form.     When  the  time  comes  to  fill  out  applica- 
tion blanks  for  registration  in  high  school,  much  effort  is 
put  upon  urging  high  school  education.       Several  schools 
told  us  of  addresses  made  in  assembly,  some  having  been 
given  by  representatives  of  various  high  schools  and  some 
by  the  district  superintendent.     From  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion we  learned  that  all  high  schools  send  representatives 
to  speak  at  the  schools  from  which  they  receive  pupils. 
Principals,  generally,  seem  to  feel  that  they  are  expected  to 
explain  and  urge  high  school  courses;  but  they  do  not  do 
this  according  to  any  official  or  standardized  plan,  except 
through  the  bulletin  already  referred  to.     It  may  be  that 
standardization  for  the  whole  city  is  impracticable,  because 
the  needs  vary  with  the  district.     In  two  schools  the  prin- 
cipal pointed  out  the  futility  of  suggesting  attendance  at 
high  school  because  of  the  extreme  poverty  of  the  children 
and  their  consequent  need  to  become  wage  earners  early. 
One  principal   expressed  herself  thus  regarding  available 
high  school  instruction: 

"All  information  about  high  school  courses  is  given 
to  pupils  and  their  parents.  But  social  standards 
are  wrong.  Pupils  are  ashamed  to  enter  the  handi- 
crafts, and  it  is  the  pupils  who  control  the  parents. 
Commercial  work  is  chosen  as  the  most  'genteel' 

87 


next  to  the  professions.  The  high  school  course  is 
wrong  in  delaying  technical  and  business  instruc- 
tion until  the  second  high  school  year.  Pupils  and 
their  parents  would  be  encouraged  to  select  high 
school  training  if  first  year  subjects  of  study  were 
less  academic." 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

1.  The  arguments  of  private  commercial  school  solicitors 
would  be  more  successfully  counteracted  if  public  school 
propaganda — setting  forth  the  educational  and  training 
opportunities  in  the  public   school   system — could   be 
popularized  and  adapted  more  specifically  to  the  indi- 
vidual needs  of  each  school  district. 

2.  The  private  schools  reach  the  parents  of  children.    The 
public  schools  will  have  to  do  this  also,  to  a  greater 
extent  than  they  now  do,  if  public  school  opportunities 
are  to  be  fairly  and  clearly  presented. 

3.  School  children  need  to  be  shown,  in  graphic  concrete 
ways,  that  the  average  eighth  grade  graduate  is  not 
ready  for  stenographic  training;  that  there  are  many 
positions   in  office  work  which  do  not  demand  sten- 
ography; and  that,  since  the  advent  of  the  socialized 
free  employment  bureaus  for  juveniles,  it  is  no  longer 
necessary  to  attend  a  private  commercial  school  in  order 
to  be  helped  to  a  position. 


88 


CHAPTER  5. 
ADVERTISING  METHODS. 


The  mails  are  the  chief  means  of  advertising  used  by 
private  commercial  schools;  solicitors  are  second  in  im- 
portance; the  newspapers  rank  third.  The  advertising  of 
the  schools,  as  a  group,  is  popular  in  language  and  form. 

The  printed  matter  of  reliable  schools  places  empha- 
sis upon  the  time  the  school  has  been  established,  the 
training  and  experience  of  teachers,  or  points  out  the 
standards  of  competency  by  which  a  school  should  be 
judged. 

Some  schools  have  offered  for  enrollment  a  reward 
that  could  not  be  claimed  easily;  have  used  a  card  of 
endorsement  which  looks  but  is  not  authentic;  have  pub- 
lished letters  from  graduates  claiming  a  degree  of  suc- 
cess which  their  employers  in  some  instances  do  not 
support;  or  their  printing  contains  extravagant  claims 
which  will  seem  plausible  and  persuasive  to  the  children 
they  are  intended  to  reach. 


The  mails  are  the  chief  means  by  which  the  private  com- 
mercial schools  reach  their  public.  Daily  and  weekly  news- 
papers are  used  by  a  limited  number  of  schools  for  regular 
brief  statements  and  for  occasional  special  announcements. 
Most  of  such  advertising  appears  in  the  "Help  Wanted" 
section  of  the  papers  under  the  subheading  "Instruction." 
A  few  public  school  publications,  issued  by  students,  carry 
private  commercial  school  advertisements,  especially  at 
commencement  time.  Bill  boards  and  street  cars  have  been, 
occasionally,  used. 

Chapter  5  is  based  upon  the  following  data: 

All  the  printed  and  other  advertising  propaganda  obtainable  for  63  private 
commercial  schools.  Sent  by  the  schools,  on  request;  also  gathered  from  public 
school  children  among  whom  it  had  been  distributed. 

All  private  commercial  school  advertising,  which  appeared  in  the  leading 
newspapers  of  New  York  City,  during  the  two  months  just  preceding  the  (1916) 
June  graduation  of  elementary  school  classes. 

Interviews  with  workers  trained  at  a  school  which  promises  graduation  in  a 
limited  number  of  days.  Records  made,  in  detail. 

Follow-up  visits  and  interviews  in  the  homes  of  46  persons  trained  at  a  school 
which  claims  graduation  in  fewer  months  than  most  schools  require;  also 
interviews  with  eight  of  these  students'  employers.  All  interviews  recorded  in 
detail.  Records  showing  the  occupational  experiences  of  twenty-six  other  per- 
sons who  had  been  trained  in  this  school. 

89 


FORMS  OF  ADVERTISING. 

The  forms  of  printed  material  mailed  to  or  distributed 
among  prospective  students  are  various.  A  list  of  these 
forms  is  presented  in  Chapter  4*.  A  certain  school,  whose 
principal  seemed  to  us  to  have  a  more  than  usual  degree 
of  dignity,  intelligence  and  educational  idealism,  has  re- 
sorted to  a  "dope"  capsule  as  a  form  of  advertising.  This 
capsule  is  less  than  one  inch  long  and  made  of  celluloid.  A 
rolled  up  bit  of  paper  inside  it  is  labeled  "Dope,"  in  black  let- 
ters, which  can  be  read  through  the  transparent  walls  of  the 
capsule.  When  the  paper  is  taken  out  and  unrolled,  a  state- 
ment recommending  the  school  and  ending  with  the  words 
"This  is  good  dope,"  is  found  printed  on  the  paper's  inner 
side.  No  sample  of  this  capsule  had  yet  been  received  at 
the  State  Department  of  Education  several  months  after  it 
had  been  in  circulation — although  there  is  a  regulation  that 
every  Regent's  registered  school,  such  as  this  one  is,  should 
send  to  the  Department  samples  of  all  printing  and  adver- 
tising matter.  If  a  school  of  this  school's  type  finds  such 
advertising  necessary  in  order  to  capture  children's  atten- 
tion, we  have  in  this  fact  some  evidence  of  the  energy  of 
the  competition  which  the  school  is  facing. 

Graduates  from  elementary  schools  have  a  very  real  de- 
sire and  need  for  reliable  help  in  choosing  among  the  many 
commercial  schools  which  surround  them  during  the  period 
just  preceding  graduation;  and  this  is  realized  by  some  of 
the  private  schools  an4  used  to  the  schools'  advantage.  No 
advertising  received  by  school  children  attracted  so  much 
attention  as  a  certain  blue  card  widely  circulated  by  a 
"lady,"  who,  the  children  stated,  said  she  came  from  the 
Board  of  Education.  The  card  read  thus : 


EDUCATIONAL  ADVISORY  BUREAU 
Organized  for  the  purpose  of  advising  and  assisting 
public  school  graduates  in  the  choice  of  educational 
institutions. 

Note: — Representatives  of  approved  schools  will  mention  number 
on  reverse  side  of  this  card  to  prove  authority. 


'See  page  82. 

90 


The  reverse  side  of  the  card  bore  the  names  of  five  New 
York  private  commercial  schools.  From  the  standpoint  of 
this  investigation,  these  schools  represent  widely  varying 
degrees  of  reliability;  one  of  the  least  desirable  in  the  city 
is  included  among  them.  When  we  visited  the  schools  to 
learn  about  the  use  of  the  card  we  found  in  only  one  in- 
stance a  manager  who  admitted  that  he  sanctioned  its  use. 
This  manager  told  us  that  a  woman,  whom  he  did  not  know 
and  whose  address  is  unknown  to  him,  asked  permission  to 
include  his  school  on  the  "approved"  list ;  and  that  although 
he  promised  a  commission  for  students  thus  secured,  he 
had  paid  none  because  no  students  had  been  produced.  Two 
managers  disclaimed  all  knowledge  of  the  card.  One  of 
these  evinced  no  particular  objection  to  the  use  of  his 
school's  name;  the  other,  representing  one  of  New  York's 
best  schools,  was  indignant  to  find  his  school  listed  with 
others  which  he  regarded  as  inferior,  and  he  considered  tak- 
ing legal  steps  to  have  the  card  withdrawn. 

In  several  school  districts  children  received  an  announce- 
ment which  read  in  part  as  follows.  The  announcement 
carried  with  it  no  more  explanation  than  is  given  here: 

ONE  THOUSAND  DOLLARS  TO  BE  GIVEN  AWAY 

Greetings : 

We  take  pleasure  in  announcing  that  we  will 
divide  One  Thousand  Dollars  among  the  First 
Fifty  Young  Men  and  Young  Women  that  en- 
roll to  take  Day  or  Evening  Courses  in  our 
school.  Application  should  be  made  at  once, 

....     Mr ,  the  Principal  of  the  school, 

was  elected  ....  His  first  contribution 
to  the  people  of  the  District  is  the  above  named 
One  Thousand  Dollars,  which  he  has  set  aside 
to  be  used  in  appreciation  of  the  great  honor 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  people  of  .  .  .  . 

Respectfully 
(Signed  with  the  principal's  name.) 

The  card  was  not  dated  and  it  did  not  state  how  and  when 
the  counting  of  the  first  fifty  would  begin. 

91 


POLICY  IN  ADVERTISING. 

The  kind  of  printed  matter  which  the  private  commercial 
schools  offer  to  the  public,  indicates  their  true  character 
with  remarkable  precision.  It  would  almost  be  possible  to 
make  an  arm-chair  survey  of  the  schools  of  New  York  City, 
the  method  being  simply  to  sit  down  and  carefully  peruse 
their  printed  propaganda.  In  its  statement  of  purpose,  the 
character  of  its  claims,  its  use  of  English,  and  in  the  quality 
of  taste  shown  in  the  material  and  make-up  of  the  printing, 
a  school  reveals  itself;  and  it  does  this  with  special  effec- 
tiveness if  its  publications  are  considered  in  contrast  with 
those  of  other  schools.  But  reliable  judgment  of  schools  on 
this  basis  is  possible  only  for  persons  of  some  education  and 
maturity.  The  children  for  whom  this  propaganda  is  de- 
signed are  not  capable  of  rating  it.  Extravagant  claims, 
cartoons  picturing  high  success  by  way  of  the  business 
school,  or  even  irrelevant  color  prints  of  sunsets,  are  the 
means  which  we  have  found  most  likely  to  win  their  ap- 
proval and  choice. 

Three  principles  seem  to  underlie  the  publications  of  the 
schools.  One  principle,  and  this  is  followed  by  a  few 
schools  only,  is  merely  to  announce  the  school,  its  managers 
preferring  to  see  and  talk  with  the  prospective  candidate 
in  person  and  to  discuss  with  him  orally  the  qualities  of  the 
school;  another  is  to  set  forth  in  a  catalog  as  attractively 
as  possible  all  the  positive  information  about  the  school  that 
a  prospective  student  might  wish ;  and  the  third  is  to  anni- 
hilate rivals.  Schools  which  work  upon  the  last  named 
principle  give  evidence  that  they  have  carefully  examined 
the  circulars  of  other  schools.  The  effect  of  this  may  be  to 
produce  in  their  own  circulars  claims  that  outdo  all  others 
in  extravagance;  to  point  out  a  rival's  weaknesses  in  so 
specific  a  way  that  the  school  criticized  will  be  recognized 
unmistakably;  or  to  successively  discuss  claims  made  by 
rivals  in  order  to  offer  proof  that  the  advantages  thus  set 

92 


forth  by  these  rivals  are  in  reality  to  be  looked  upon  as  dis- 
advantages. One  of  New  York's  large  and  popular  schools 
recognizes  that  the  whole  city  is  in  competition  with  it  and 
attempts,  in  its  catalog,  to  fell  each  enemy.  No 
school  of  importance,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  escapes  a  well- 
aimed  blow.  The  school  in  question  is  a  moderate  priced 
one,  with  modern  yet  not  elaborate  equipment.  Its  catalog 
says  that  a  school  which  charges  more  than  this  school,  may 
do  so  because  it  does  not  manage  to  economize  in  the  mat- 
ter of  running  expenses,  or  because  it  is  willing  to  take 
more  than  legitimate  profit.  It  points  out  that  a  smaller 
school  cannot  have  facilities  for  being  a  good  school — al- 
though our  investigation  shows  that  this  claim  can  be  dis- 
puted. It  states  that  a  school  which  advertises  the  principal's 
personal  supervision,  is  likely  to  be  a  neglected  school  because 
the  principal's  time  is  bound  to  be  taken  up  with  business. 
The  "nearest"  school,  the  catalog  points  out,  is  no  more  safe 
in  education  than  the  nearest  doctor  in  illness.  It  claims  that 
other  schools  teach  but  one  or  two  makes  of  typewriters,  while 
this  school  teaches  many.  On  the  basis  of  our  investigation 
we  know  this  claim  to  be  unsupported  by  fact  if,  in  speaking 
of  "other  schools/'  it  is  implied  that  most  other  schools  are 
meant.  Schools  located  in  a  private  house,  or  a  former  club- 
house, or  an  office  building  are  criticised  as  not  being  adapted 
to  school  work.  All  these  assertions  are  direct  answers  to 
claims  made  and  information  given  in  the  printed  advertise- 
ments of  other  schools. 

The  following  are  quotations,  from  various  school  cata- 
logs, which,  it  seems  to  us,  any  intelligent,  adult  person 
should  see  must  be  exaggerated  or  impossible.  But  the 
children  and  the  foreign  or  illiterate  parents,  for  whom  they 
are  meant,  could  not  be  expected  to  consider  that,  and  they 
are  likely  to  accept  these  statements  as  conclusive  evidence 
of  the  excellent  powers  and  possibilities  of  the  school. 

93 


"No  other  school  has  60,000  successful  graduates  in 
the  business  world-  who  send  only  to  their  Alma 
Mater  for  any  assistance  they,  or  their  employers, 
need." 

"Thus  far,  each  graduate  has  been  placed  and  is  hold- 
ing a  satisfactory  position,  as  per  hundreds  of  rec- 
ords on  file  at  this  office."  (This  school  is  several 
years  old.) 

"We  have  yet  to  record  a  student  who  did  not  become 
proficient  in  our  night  school." 

"Of  the  great  number  of  graduates  we  have  no  record 
of  even  one  student  who  was  unsuccessful  as  far 
as  a  position  is  concerned." 

Another  sort  of  advertising  which  in  our  opinion  is  likely 
to  be  an  unfailing  index  to  the  character  of  the  school,  is 
the  eulogy.  In  one  instance  it  takes  the  form  of  a  letter 
from  the  principal  to  the  public,  in  which  the  latter  is 
thanked  for  its  "confidence,"  "encouragement,"  "kind 
words"  and  "good  wishes  for  our  success."  In  another  in- 
stance, a  "Declaration  of  Loyalty"  is  published  which,  the 
school  says,  came  from  the  student  body.  The  following  is 
one  of  the  several  elaborate  sentences  which  compose  it: 

"In  consideration  of  your  services  to  us  in  the  past 
and  in  appreciation  of  your  best  efforts  to  enable 
us  to  complete  our  studies  satisfactorily,  and  for 
your  extra  hard  work  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays, 
and  your  assurance  to  give  us  the  outside  assist- 
ance and  encouragement  we  may  need,  and  for 
your  thoughtful  solicitations  for  our  comfort  and 
welfare  and  your  endeavors  to  make  our  sojourn 
in  your  school  a  period  of  our  life  worthy  of  re- 
membrance, we  give  you  the  following  pledge  of 
our  appreciation,  loyalty  and  co-operation." 

94 


Newspaper  advertisements,  we  have  already  said,  are 
likely  to  be  simple,  brief  and  non-sensational  announce- 
ments. In  only  two  instances  have  we  observed  even  an 
apparent  departure  from  this  rule.  One  school  at  frequent 
intervals  throughout  two  consecutive  months  advertised, 
"Shorthand  for  $10— This  Week  Only."  Anyone  who  hap- 
pened to  note  the  successive  appearances  might  be  justified 
in  wondering  if  the  claim  of  "This  Week  Only"  was  hon- 
estly made.  Another  school  regularly  inserts  an  advertise- 
ment offering  to  teach  shorthand  in  an  unusually  short  time. 
The  proprietor  of  this  school  explained  to  us  verbally,  when 
he  was  visited,  that  the  literal  claim  was  less  than  we 
thought.  There  is  no  school  session  on  Saturday  and  Sun- 
day; therefore,  the  promised  number  of  days  is  not  limited 
to  the  number  of  weeks  they  seem  to  indicate.  Further- 
more, he  pointed  out  that  the  advertisement  claims  the 
teaching  of  shorthand  only  and,  although  the  reader  may 
connote  typing,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  advertisement 
says  nothing  about  it.  He  concluded,  however,  by  saying 
that  the  interpretation  the  public  is  likely  to  give  the  adver- 
tisement is  by  no  means  an  unsafe  one,  because  he  does 
claim  that  he  can  produce  pupils  who  have  learned  both 
shorthand  and  typing  proficiently  in  the  promised  time,  or 
less.  Interviews  with  students  of  the  school  have  indicated 
to  us  that  some  of  them  do  not  get  through  in  the  prescribed 
time,  and  some  of  them  do.  We  are  not  able  to  learn  the 
proportionate  number  included  in  these  two  groups.  The 
school  was  investigated  by  one  of  the  daily  papers  more 
than  a  year  ago,  and  its  report  was  not  favorable.  We  have 
obtained,  from  the  office  of  this  paper,  the  following  extract 
from  the  letter  of  a  young  man  who  states  that  he  attended 
this  school  for  about  four  months. 

"I  took  this  course  because  I  thought  I  could  finish  in 

days;  but  (after  four  months)  I  had  to  leave 

as  I  could  not  afford  to  put  in  more  time.    I  could 
not  take  more  than  twenty-five  words  a  minute  of 

95 


unprepared  dictation.  I  know  of  other  students 
who  were  there  before  me,  and  who  were  still  there 
when  I  left." 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  testimony  of  two  persons, 
known  to  us  to  be  reliable,  that  they  did  acquire  proficiency 
in  shorthand  within  the  advertised  time.  These  were  both 
women  of  maturity  and  superior  intelligence  and  education ; 
we  cannot  judge,  on  the  basis  of  their  experience,  what  less 
favored  pupils  could  do. 

The  publications  of  private  commercial  schools  frequently 
contain  lists  of  their  graduates.  Such  lists  are  offered  as 
proof  of  a  school's  success;  therefore,  if  they  are  to  be  ac- 
cepted as  proof,  they  should  be  accompanied  by  whatever 
information  is  needed  for  substantiation.  A  list  of  names 
and  addresses  with  no  dates  or  other  indication  of  the  time 
of  graduation  is  almost  valueless  unless  the  graduates,  as 
secretaries  to  public  men  or  in  some  other  way,  have  them- 
selves become  famous.  Names  of  employers  of  graduates, 
unaccompanied  by  the  date  of  employment  and  the  employ- 
ers' address,  are  completely  valueless,  unless  the  employing 
firm  is  one  commonly  known. 

Letters  from  graduates  are  sometimes  published.  In  the 
case  of  one  school  which  uses  this  method  of  advertising 
we  made  a  special  investigation.  The  letters,  which  are 
addressed  to  the  school,  tell  of  the  graduate's  success  in 
employment.  When  we  visited  the  employers  named  in 
the  letters  we  found  in  a  number  of  instances  that  the 
graduate  who  wrote  of  success  was  considered  incapable 
by  the  employer.  Thus  the  endorsement  of  the  schools' 
training,  which  the  letters  imply  or  state,  may  lack  prac- 
tical value. 

GOOD  ADVERTISING. 

It  would  be  unfair  to  close  a  discussion  of  the  advertis- 
ing in  New  York's  private  commercial  schools  without  some 
recognition  of  the  honest,  intelligent  and  attractive  propa- 

96 


ganda  of  the  better  schools.  A  number  of  such  schools  put 
emphasis  upon  the  qualifications  of  their  teachers  and  show, 
with  dates,  the  educational  institutions  attended  and  the 
experience  of  the  teachers  prior  to  employment  at  the 
school.  Those  schools  which  use  lists  of  graduates  in 
recommendation  are  careful  to  give  the  adequacy  of  infor- 
mation to  which  this  chapter  has  earlier  called  attention. 
Several  lay  stress  upon  the  value  of  a  good  foundation  in 
general  education  in  ways  like  the  following: 

"Parents,  give  your  children  all  the  education  you 
can.  But  do  not  neglect  to  give  them  from  six 
months  to  a  year  in  a  first  class  business  school." 

"Requirements  for  admission:  Nothing  less  than  a 
grammar  school  education;  high  school  students 
are  desired." 

One  principal  points  out  what  constitutes  legitimate  success 
for  a  business  school.  Another  tells  concretely  what  a  boy 
or  girl  should  think  about  in  selecting  a  school,  and  asks 
prospective  pupils  to  consider  his  own  establishment  on  the 
basis  of  such  points.  Among  his  suggestions  for  testing  a 
school  are  questions  like  these: 

"Is  the  school  well  established? 

Does  it  employ  good  teachers? 

What  do  business  men  think  of  it? 

What  do  its  graduates  think  of  it? 

Do  its  performances  measure  up  to  its  promises? 

Has  it  shown  a  consistent  growth? 

Does  it  teach  touch  typewriting? 

Does  it,  in  addition  to  shorthand  and  typewriting, 
have  a  practical  course  in  office  training? 

Do  its  quarters  reflect  the  atmosphere  of  a  modern 
business  office,  or  rather  that  of  a  reception  room?" 

97 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

1.  Much  of  the  misleading  or  false  advertising  which  now 

reaches  children  could  be  eliminated  if,  by  legislative 
provision,  private  schools  were  compelled  to  file  at  the 
State  Department  of  Education  samples  of  all  adver- 
tising material,  and  the  State  Department  were  given 
power  to  censor  it. 

2.  It  should  be  made  illegal  for  schools  to  use  published 

lists  of  names  in  endorsement  of  their  work,  unless 
definite  addresses  are  appended  and  the  date  of  attend- 
ance at  the  school  is  indicated. 

3.  If  the  list  of  Regents'  registered  schools  is  to  be  con- 

tinued, non-registered  schools  should  be  warned  by  the 
State  Department  of  Education  against  using  the  terms 
"approved"  or  "incorporated"  in  such  a  way  as  to  con- 
fuse the  public  with  regard  to  Regents'  endorsement. 
(See  Chapter  7). 


98 


CHAPTER  6.  ,  fj 

THE  NATURE  OF  OFFICE  POSITIONS. 


There  is  a  large  number  and  wide  range  of  office  posi- 
tions   which    are    not    dependent    upon    stenographic    or 
bookkeeping  training.  This  may  be  true  of  the  following: 
25%  of    1,487    office    positions    held    by    stenography 

trained  applicants  at  employment  bureaus. 
49%     of    370     office    positions    held  by     stenography 
trained  workers  previous  to  employment  at  the 
Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company. 
88%  of  all  office  positions    (733)    held  at  the  Metro- 
politan   Life    Insurance    Company   by   workers 
under  21  years.     Some  of  these  workers,  how- 
ever, may  have  an   opportunity  later  to   enter 
stenographic  positions. 

81%  of  1,436  positions  representing  all  office  positions 
held  in  five  establishments  of  different  kinds  in 
Cleveland,  O. 

A  study  of  316  office  positions  held  by  boys  and  girls 
from  14  to  18  years  of  age  shows  that  trained  and  un- 
trained workers  held  practically  identical  positions  at  a 
similar  rate  of  pay. 

The  standardization  of  office  work  makes  some  second 
rate  stenographers  employable  provided  their  personal 
characteristics  are  acceptable. 

There  is  indication  that  some  offices  can  use — in  fairly 
responsible  stenographic  or  bookkeeping  positions — 
bright,  well-trained  boys  and  girls  who  may  be  16  years 
of  age  or  younger. 

The  low  standard  product  of  certain  schools  appears  in 
some  instances  to  find  its  place  in  offices  of  similar 
grade. 


The  present  investigation  has  to  do  with  training,  not 
work;  and  the  material  it  offers  relative  to  the  nature  of 
work  and  the  demand  for  office  workers  in  New  York  City, 
must  be  suggestive  rather  than  conclusive.  The  study  of 

Chapter  6  is  based  upon  the  following  data: 

Records  showing  the  occupational  experiences  of  1035  young  people  trained  in 
private  commercial  schools  (already  referred  to  in  Chapter  3). 

Records  showing  the  occupational  experiences  of  733  office  employees  at  the 
Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company.  These  cover  detailed  information  con- 
cerning the  733  office  positions  held  in  the  employ  of  the  Metropolitan  Life 
Insurance  Company  and  370  office  positions  held  by  the  same  workers  previous 
to  such  employment. 

Statistical  information  showing  kinds  of  positions  held  by  all  office  workers 
(1436)  in  five  business  houses  of  Cleveland,  O.,  each  house  representing  a  dif- 
ferent kind  of  business. 

Bureau  of  Attendance  records,  giving  detailed  information  for  office  positions 
held  by  316  workers  between  the  ages  of  14  and  18  years  inclusive. 

Records  showing  the  occupational  experiences  of  30  private  commercial  school 
graduates,  all  of  whom  began  wage-earning  between  the  ages  of  14  and  16  years. 
Secured  by  home  visits. 

99 


the  city's  office  work  is  a  study  in  itself  and  one  which  needs 
to  be  made  completely  if  public  commercial  schools  are  to 
serve  the  best  purpose,  if  the  place  of  private  schools  is  to 
be  definitely  known,  and  if  young  people  are  to  receive  wise 
advice  in  their  plans  for  education,  training,  and  work. 
Some  contributions  to  the  subject  have  been  made  already, 
such  as  the  report  of  Mr.  F.  V.  Thompson  to  the  Committee 
on  School  Inquiry,  1911-1912,  and  the  answer  to  this  re- 
port; also  the  report  of  a  Committee  of  The  High  School 
Teachers'  Association  of  New  York  City  in  1915.  But  no 
report,  of  which  we  have  been  able  to  learn,  claims  thor- 
oughness in  covering  the  field ;  and  the  result  is  that  persons 
who  already  had  an  opinion  relative  to  the  kind  of  com- 
mercial education  needed  are  of  the  same  opinion  still. 
Since  contrary  opinions  are  thus  adhered  to,  it  would  seem 
that  the  truth,  or  the  whole  truth,  has  not  yet  been  learned ; 
and  it  is  evident  that  a  thorough,  comprehensive  report 
needs  to  be  produced.  Our  own  reference  to  the  field  of 
work  cannot  hope,  as  we  have  said,  to  do  more  than  call 
to  the  attention  of  those  interested,  certain  indications  about 
the  nature  of  office  positions,  based  more  upon  the  experi- 
ence of  workers  than  upon  a  study  of  the  work  itself. 

THE  FATE  OF  SEEMINGLY  UNDESIRABLE  PUPILS. 

In  going  about  the  city,  visiting  private  schools  and  see- 
ing group  after  group  of  pupils  in  the  process  of  commer- 
cial training,  we  have  wondered:  What  can  business  do 
with  girls  so  mediocre  or  dull?  Will  anyone  really  desire 
to  employ  them  as  stenographers?  What  can  business  do 
with  these  irresponsible  young  children?  What  can  busi- 
ness do  with  these  boys  and  girls  who  wear  soiled  cloth- 
ing, who  sharpen  their  pencils  onto  the  school-room  floor  and 
who  speak  English  with  a  foreign  accent  and  a  curious  in- 
version of  phrases? 

A  definite  answer  to  the  first  question  has  been  given  in 
Chapter  3.  The  commercial  school  product  which  that 
chapter  discussed  must  have  been  composed  very  largely 
of  the  kind  of  girls  this  question  describes.  The  answer  is, 
then,  that  they  are  likely  to  change  positions  often  and  to 

100 


fail  to  progress  in  kind  of  work  or  in  wages;  and  a  number 
of  them  will  have  to  be  satisfied  with  general  clerical — or 
even  non-clerical — positions  in  which  their  special  training 
does  not  find  use.  No  doubt  some  mediocre  workers,  whose 
personality  and  physical  appearance  is  acceptable,  will  be 
able  to  get  and  to  hold  stenographic  positions  because  of  a 
demand  for  second  rate  stenographers  created  by  the  stan- 
dardization of  work  in  large  business  organizations.  We  do 
not  mean  that  second  rate  work  is  tolerated;  but  that  the 
letter  writing  and  other  routine  business  is  so  nearly  re- 
duced to  forms  that  it  is  an  easy  matter  for  a  girl  to  become 
skilful  in  the  particular,  unchanging  kind  of  work  that  she 
is  assigned  to  do.  But  we  do  not  see  how  a  girl  so  em- 
ployed could  hope  to  become  more  efficient  or  to  fit  herself 
for  advancement,  even  if  the  business  should  be  willing  to 
make  promotions. 

The  second  question  seems  to  find  a  partial  answer,  at 
least,  in  our  study  of  a  school  of  Group  II.  This  school  is 
one  which  impressed  us  favorably  except  in  regard  to  the 
extreme  youth  of  its  pupils.  Room  after  room  disclosed 
children  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  some  of 
these  small  for  their  years.  We  asked  the  principal,  "Will 
you  give  us  the  names  of  fifty  young  graduates  who  left  the 
school  recently,  so  that  we  may  find  out  what  has  happened 
to  them?"  The  principal  complied  readily.  A  list  of  fifty 
pupils  was  received,  thirty  of  whom  we  visited.  We  do 
not  know  whether  or  not  this  was  a  selected  list;  we  did 
not  specify  that  it  should  not  be.  We  needed  to  be  con- 
vinced that  even  under  the  promising  conditions  which  this 
well  equipped  school  offered,  business  would  make  serious 
use  of  mere  children.  We  have  given  here  in  Table  8  a 
complete  record  of  the  information  our  interviews  with 
these  pupils  disclosed.  Plus  sign  show  that  the  worker 
was  still  employed  at  the  time  of  interview.  The  indication 
is  that  business,  in  New  York  City,  may  accept  in  fairly 
responsible  positions,  bright  girls  who  have  been  trained 
in  a  good  school,  even  though  they  are  only  sixteen  years 
old  or  younger.  The  unconvincing  fact  is  the  shortness  of 
the  period  for  which  most  first  positions  have  been  held. 

101 


^  c  . 

X 

rf    rr    ,—  •        i—  •        CM   to              c^ 

a        u- 

1     CM          •- 

X 

C0»0 

^2 

0*0. 

o'W 

>>  . 

888     8     888     g 

§     E 

1  8     E 

J     8     8 

8  8 

II 

vcJ   op   vo*       o\"       t>!    o   vd       c 

^        o 
M: 

NO             VC 

)        oo        oc 

«1 

II 

cn      cn      cn           cn           en     -f-      cn           c 

o    o   ^        o        o      •    o        c 

0                 Cl 

3           C 

o      cn           a 
)      0           C 

V 

I     *     i 

en      e/ 

O      O 

s  e  ^     e     s  £  s     j 

s       £ 

:    S        E 

i        £       X 

••     e  s 

W 

CMCMCM          CM          CM     i—  i     CM          v£ 

3           ^ 

"CM          C\ 

1           CM           I-H 

CO      TJ- 

>v             1                                 1                                                <*>.                1 

•jy    cu           u                1u      bfl 

bo 

:   g 

c   -a 

^       : 

V3    *«i           ^                  O      O 
'S     -^           52                  fe      C 

S 

S  *n 

rt          cj 

'5       i 

Kind  of  Position. 

tenography,  switchboard,  filing  
tenography,  typing,  some  filing  
ngle  entry  bookkeeping,  little  responsil 

enography,  bookkeeping,  answering 
phone  and  general  clerical  work  

:enography,  typing,  care  of  building  ii 
ance  and  answering  telephone  
enography,  typing  
enography,  typing  and  general  office  i 

rst,  circular  work;  later,  a  little  ste 
raphv  added.. 

u 

(U 
cn 

.0 

W 

1 
'a 

^g 

•I| 

ttle  stenography,  responsibility  for  fi 

:enography,  typing  and  filing,  answ( 
telephone  . 

rst,  ^  stenography;  later,  stenography 
clerical  work  

large  of  books,  making  deposits  in 
and  making  out  checks  .  . 

sneral  office  work;  taking  orders,  dis 
uting  mail  

enography,  typing  

C/2COln.C/}          CO         C/2COfc 

CO 

J   co 

fo       0 

O      co 

bo     :         ! 

bo 

I          bfl 

• 

O   CO 

c     : 

c 

C 

• 

|| 

is    +*        bo 

bfl            2      C           C           bO 
C                 0       4>            £             C 

C 

3 
o 

s-, 
'cS          ^ 

=    1 

«w 

1   II  11   1 

Illl  i  ||i 

Manufa 

| 

S  2 

in           ctf 

3           * 

2       c 

>      4a 
!^       ^ 

t:      S 

a   | 

W       PQ 

*c3 

«  «'«—  r 

.9  «  S 

^ 

*^\                     M\ 

<U  >  gJs 

Tf-^lOlO            IO            IOU1LO 

10 

IO     IO 

IO            IO 

IT5             UO 

U 

-•   -vi   «   ^r       «j       ^5   K    od 

cK 

0       -H 

CM"        co" 

rj"          LO 

'""    ""^ 

102 


1) 

Jg  g 

^ 

g 

>> 

»-«       vo   CM        pa       cvjco         c3    *-•        »• 

|          vo     04     -     0 

'o'a 

f- 

4 

^ 

-4 

x 

8     S  8      8     88      88      88        8     8888-8 

"u  **> 

tN 

vo    l>»          t> 

t           CM     t"x           VO     VO           VO     t>.                 CM           t^     t^»     t>»     O     O 

^ 

VO 

^H 

vo 

vo 

—"S 

+  + 

4- 

+     + 

II 

«3. 

QJ  c 

cn            en      en            en              .en            en      cn            en      en                  o 

O            OO            O            J°O            OO            OO                  C 

SEES        kSSSSS            £ 

i            en      cn        .      ^     a 

:       ^    1    8  xj  J 

p*H  G 

w 

co          VOCM           vo          CM     •**•           CMCM           m-^-                 co          CM     CM     *-•     '-'     t-1 

1 

bo         •     a 

2              e 

:  ^ 

OJ        QJ    <U 

c 

'v 
bo 

o               v 

§       jj 

In                  *^ 

1 

^>                                 C/3 

bo            ;= 

*         U 

cn       cu 
^ 

c 

ctf      cu 

o      >  J3 
£      °0 
0      cn 

rt                     * 
cn                       * 

"C 

JM*             t*      LQ 

oT 

*^   |           (jft 

•£   S  2 

.           * 

>> 

I) 

<1>                <1^ 

c               a 

"t-t              "S^       "^ 

x 

£ 

C/5 

5      2*  "S 

£       = 

^   *o 

*o   """ 

O          rt      rt 

o     o 

a 

OS 

d 

c 

03 

-     ^  '^ 

f         9 

^s  g 

^.     bo  bo 

bo        43    -° 

C           4=     43 

bo 

o 

«2 

Jrt 

•*-            15 

bo    hn 

O       w  *_g") 

«^^               CJ        L/ 

fN 

,+j 

T3 

CH          r-^ 

^         CT3  *^^ 

v-*                    /t4         -"t^ 

flj 

o 

c 

T3 

hrt                         r^ 

^j      «s 

pH    O 

c         ^     ^ 

£ 

rt 

|            bO     S 

.s 

*    tt 

-^        c 

C/) 

0 

bo 

c       -2    bo 

0   bfl     w      C 

bo    bo 

It       .S  .G 

bo  J* 

G     ^ 

s  g>S 

bio  O      bio     b2 

c  j^    c     c 

§ 

•o 

c 

« 

s 

bo  c   '««   'a 

C  U3      «J      >, 

•  ^H  f  rl       Cu      -*-* 

Is  f  S 

11 

*2    x-o 

«     •*-•   C   v 

"^*      O4       *Z?         *I? 

^X   QJ         Ui«       C-U 

.§ 

cn 

^  o 

•**^ 

™       ^  rt  CL 

^ 

09 

^fc 

'a 

rt 

L,      rt 

11  II 

•0          rt     rt 

>»  ^     >»    >> 

III  ll§§  Ifl  II 

"k       ^ 

1    *0 

bo  C      ww  ^     bfl     bo 
O    O     +?  o<     O      O    w 
G  43      cn   cd      G      G    r 

D  a    1-1  >-i     cu     cu  .tm 

bo-«     bobofe     boboo     bobo  a^4     bo  ^     bo    bo    b 

o  §^   i   g-2  8   §£   §   g-g«   §S   §   g   a 

5    bo 

CO           tin           CO     CO 

CO          CO     CO 

CO     CO 

CO     CO 

CO          CO     CO     C/" 

(J 

* 

I         bo 

1 

bo 

*    c 

bo 

0    OT 

.s 

i 

•3  .2 

.s 

bo 

J—  i        hfi 

r;      -*-1 

aj    'C            cu 

££ 

c 

bo         g     ff 

s  •*> 

p 

^    f* 

cu        t;       !     bfl    ti 

|1 

Jw 

Distributi 

.S       t3   -J 
•§      1    2 

1    1  1 

pti        S    U 

CO     | 

^11 
2     &3 

Law  .... 

Manufact 

II 

£  1 

(J      fH 

bo        ^     o     S    5 

ctf            cn      rt     15      OT 

fc     w  ^  -S  w 
^J      ^    g  -4=  ^ 
o        rt    5   *2    «« 

J-i               CU      ^        3        CU 

!s 

m 

^o        vo    ^o 

VO          vo     vo 

VO     vo 

vo     vo 

vo          vo    vo     vo    vo 

O 

vd        tx    ao 

O\                         O           T-H 

'-I            CM      CM 

CM     CM 

•^f-    ir> 
CM     CM 

>p        t>I    oo    o\    o 

PS            CM     CM      CM      CO 

103 


Information  of  the  sort  given  in  Table  8  was  corroborated 
in  interviews  held  with  twenty  girls  trained  by  a  philan- 
thropic school  of  excellent  reputation.  All  left  the  school 
at  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age  and  all  but  one  secured 
stenographic  or  bookkeeping  work.  The  usual  first  wage 
was  $7,  the  minimum  being  $5  and  the  maximum  $10.  The 
girls  who  enter  this  school  are  carefully  selected,  only  those 
being  taken  for  training  who  are  likely  to  succeed.  In  most 
cases  they  had  the  aid  of  friends  or  relatives  in  securing 
their  first  positions. 

The  average  employer,  whether  he  prefers  very  young 
workers  or  not,  may,  in  many  cases  have  no  choice  but  to 
take  them;  for,  as  our  investigation  indicates,  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  supply  of  workers  provided  by  the  private 
training  schools  of  the  city  as  a  whole,  are  under  17  years 
of  age.  The  general  employment  of  such  young  workers 
may  therefore  indicate  no  general  demand  for  them  on  the 
part  of  employers;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
situation  has  been  largely  brought  about  by  the  deliberate 
effort  of  the  private  schools.  Competition  has  been  the 
cause.  As  the  number  of  commercial  schools  increased  in 
the  city  it  became  increasingly  necessary  to  recruit  pupils 
from  the  elementary  schools  and  to  secure  them  in  ad- 
vance of  some  other  school. 

The  answer  to  the  third  question,  relative  to  pupils  whose 
standard  of  living  is  low,  must  be  to  some  extent  specula- 
tive. It  is  a  matter  of  common  information  that  a  consider- 
able amount  of  business  in  New  York  City  is  transacted  in 
the  offices,  shops  and  stores  of  its  poorer  sections.  These 
places  are  small  and  not  likely  to  be  very  clean  or  comfort- 
able ;  the  proprietors  are  in  many  cases  foreigners  who  speak 
a  broken  or  illiterate  English.  Yet,  except  for  such  char- 
acteristics, these  may  be  in  no  way  disreputable  places ;  and 
legitimate  work  is  there  to  be  done.  Who  could  be  willing 
to  do  it?  The  answer  is,  probably  those  very  boys  and  girls 

104 


whom  the  third  question  describes.  Some  evidence  that 
this  is  the  case  is  given  in  the  catalog  of  a  commercial 
school,  in  a  foreign  section  of  the  city,  which  publishes  the 
names  and  addresses  of  employers  to  whom  its  graduates 
are  sent.  Two-thirds  of  these  employers  are  those  who 
maintain  small  shops  and  offices  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  school;  and  these  places  are,  not  improbably,  to  some 
extent  the  sort  to  which  we  have  here  referred.  The  pro- 
cess seems  to  be  something  like  this :  Children  of  a  certain 
neighborhood  are  trained  in  the  schools  of  that  neighbor- 
hood to  occupy  positions  in  the  same  neighborhood's  places 
of  employment.  It  will  always  be  a  misfortune  for  any  indi- 
vidual to  do  less  well  for  himself  than  his  utmost  ability  jus- 
tifies ;  but  some  boys  or  girls  will  find  employment  which  satis- 
fies them — with  friends  or  relatives  it  may  be — who  are  not 
suitable  for  a  higher  grade  of  employment. 

THE  ALTERNATIVE  OF  FACTORY  WORK. 

The  children  of  the  public  schools  are  invited  by  most 
private  commercial  school  agents  to  follow  reasoning  like 
this:  "Do  you  want  to  go  to  work  and  earn  some  money? 
Very  well,  you  can  choose  between  office  work  and  factory 
work.  People  will  not  think  much  of  you  if  you  do  factory 
work.  If  you  choose  office  work,  you  will  have  to  be 
trained.  Therefore,  come  to  our  school  and  take  a  six 
months'  course  in  stenography  and  bookkeeping."  Public 
elementary  school  teachers  and  private  commercial  school 
agents  may  be  alike  in  their  representation  to  children  that 
factory  work  is  a  fearsome  alternative.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  there  is  no  great  difference  in  essential  characteristics 
between  some  forms  of  factory  work  and  the  mechanical, 
standardized,  clerical  work  that  is  likely  to  be  the  fate  of 
inferior  office  workers;  and  the  rate  of  wages  may  be  the 
same,  or  even  tend  to  be  higher  in  the  case  of  factory 
workers.  And  we  have  already  shown,  in  Chapter  3,  that 

105 


some  workers  ultimately  reach  the  level  of  factory  work 
after  the  expensive  experiment  of  commercial  education  has 
been  tried  and  has  failed.  Workers  cannot  expect  to  rise 
above  this  level  if  they  have  not  the  foundation  upon  which 
special  training  or  opportunity  can  build.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  factory  work  should  be  generally  disparaged;  for,  be- 
cause of  the  social  stigma  that  is  still  upon  it,  failures  in 
office  work  are  being  produced  who  might  have  been  suc- 
cesses as  industrial  workers.  Of  course  we  do  not  believe 
that  mechanical  work  should  be  the  fate  of  anyone  who  can 
do  and  get  a  better  thing.  But  progressive  factory  legisla- 
tion is  regulating  hours  and  wages,  and  continuously  more 
rigorous  inspection  is  making  factory  work  increasingly 
safe  and  comfortable.  Employers,  also,  are  awakened  to 
the  effect  of  working  conditions  upon  the  efficiency  of  the 
worker.  An  illustration  of  the  influence  of  commercial 
schools  with  regard  to  the  prevailing  opinion  that  industrial 
work  is  undesirable,  is  found  in  the  catalog  of  one  school 
which  makes  this  statement:  (The  italics  are  ours.) 

"You  are  now  on  the  threshold  of  life.  The  start  you 
make  now  will  lead  to  Success  and  Great  Joy  or 
to  Failure  and  Unhappiness  .  .  .  Brain  Work 
not  only  brings  a  higher  remuneration  than  Hand 
Work,  but  the  Brain  Worker  is  a  respected  mem- 
ber of  Society,  while  the  Hand  Worker  is  classed 
with  the  ordinary  and  the  illiterate." 

THE  USE  OF  STENOGRAPHY  AND  BOOKKEEPING. 

It  is  customary,  we  have  said,  for  the  agents  of  commer- 
cial schools  to  recommend  that  one  who  chooses  to  become 
an  office  worker  should  study  the  usual  subjects  of  private 
commercial  instruction,  namely,  stenography  and  book- 
keeping. Our  study  does  not  bear  out  the  wisdom  of  that 
advice;  and  our  objections  to  it  are  based  not  only  upon 
the  present  investigation  but  upon  a  somewhat  prolonged 
study  of  commercial  work  in  another  city.  We  believe  that, 

106 


as  a  rule,  boys'  success  in  business  is  not  in  any  way  de- 
pendent upon  knowledge  of  stenography ;  in  the  case  of  girls 
we  believe  that  stenography,  when  taught  to  those  who 
have  a  good  foundation  in  English,  does  make  for  success 
and  affords  the  best  business  opportunity  girls  have.  But 
the  present  report  has  to  face  the  fact  that  it  is  concerned 
chiefly  with  children  of  no  more  than  elementary  school 
education.  Some  of  them  are  not  fitted  for  any  sort  of 
office  work;  others  are  not  fitted  for  the  sort  that  the  ordi- 
nary business  school  prepares  for;  only  a  few,  perhaps, 
have  the  personal  qualities  and  the  mastery  of  English 
necessary  for  successful  stenographic  positions.  But  the 
important  truth  which  the  business  schools  overlook,  so 
far  as  training  goes,  is  that  there  is  in  business  a  host  of 
office  positions  which  do  not  depend  upon  either  stenog- 
raphy or  bookkeeping.  We  have  illustrated  this  in  para- 
graphs that  follow.  A  good  foundation  in  general  educa- 
tion is  more  desirable  for  these  positions  than  specialized 
training;  a  course  which  combines  training  in  office  routine, 
business  methods  and  business  organization  with  general 
education  might  be  the  best  preparation  if  such  were  ob- 
tainable. 

Chapter  3  showed  that  18  per  cent  of  1641  office  posi- 
tions, held  by  a  group  of  commercially  trained  young 
people  who  used  the  free  employment  bureaus,  were  general 
clerical  ones.  But  we  have  further  evidence  from  other 
workers — a  group  which  is  likely  to  represent  the  commer- 
cial schools'  better  product.  By  the  courtesy  of  the  Metro- 
politan Life  Insurance  Company  we  have  obtained  the 
occupational  history  of  all  office  employees,  under  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  on  the  company's  payroll  in  September, 
1916.  The  history  of  each  extends  from  the  time  of  leaving 
school  to  the  date  in  September  on  which  the  inquiry  was 
made.  We  have  made  two  separate  studies  of  the  tabu- 
lated results — one,  of  positions  held  by  commercially  trained 

107 


workers  previous  to  employment  at  the  Metropolitan  Life  In- 
surance Company ;  and  one  of  all  positions  held  in  the  com- 
pany's employ  without  regard  to  the  workers'  training  or  lack 
of  training. 

1.       PREVIOUS   POSITIONS  OF   OFFICE   EMPLOYEES   OF    METROPOLI- 
TAN 'LIFE  INSURANCE   COMPANY. 

We  find  that  370  office  positions,  in  various  kinds  of  busi- 
ness, were  held  by  the  commercially  trained  workers  pre- 
vious to  their  Metropolitan  employment.  For  each  of  these 
positions  we  have  the  worker's  definite  statement  whether 
or  not  use  was  made  of  his  stenographic  or  bookkeeping 
knowledge.  The  office  employees  of  the  Metropolitan  Life 
Insurance  Company  are  selected  carefully  from  a  long  wait- 
ing list.  Analysis  of  the  general  education  of  the  group 
here  studied  shows  that  seventy  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  sev- 
enty-three per  cent  of  the  girls  had  attended  high  school  for  a 
period.  We  may  suppose,  therefore,  that  if  these  young  people, 
who  had  been  trained  for  stenography  and  bookkeeping,  did  not 
always  get  positions  that  used  their  training  it  is  not  to  be 
inferred  that  they  were  incompetent  workers,  but  rather 
that  evidence  is  given  of  the  tremendous  demand  for  office 
helpers  in  positions  of  a  general  clerical  nature.  Diagram 
VIII  shows  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  boys'  positions, 
and  considerably  more  than  one-third  of  the  girls',  made  use 
of  neither  stenographic  nor  bookkeeping  training. 


108 


Neither 

Stenography         71.3 

Nor  Book-keeping 


DIAGRAM  VIII. 
BOYS'  POSITIONS,  99. 


Book-keeping       21.3  [ 


Stenography          3.8   I 


Stenography 

and 

Book-keeping 


3.2 


Neither 

Stenography        40.9 

Nor  Book-keeping 

Book-keeping        8.8 


GIRLS'  POSITIONS,  271. 


Stenography        37.5   \       \ 


Stenography 

and 

Book-keeping 


12.8 


Use  of  stenography  and  bookkeeping  in  370  office  positions  held  by  a  group 
of  commercially  trained  boys  and  girls  previous  to  employment  at  the  Metro- 
politan Life  Insurance  Company. 


The  total  number  of  positions  which  used  neither  stenog- 
raphy nor  bookkeeping  is  for  both  sexes  182,  or  49  per  cent 
of  the  whole  number  studied.  To  show  how  great  a  variety 
of  business  was  represented  in  these  182  positions  and  to 
answer  the  objection  that  they  may  have  been  confined 
to  standardized  kinds  of  business,  we  offer  Table  9.  To 

109 


show  the  nature  of  the  positions,  Table  10  is  given.  The 
clerks'  positions  designated  for  boys  cover  stock,  sales,  tariff, 
bill,  mail,  beneficiary,  shipping  and  Junior  clerkships ;  those 
for  girls  cover  stock,  sales,  bill,  mail,  shipping,  credit,  file, 
inventory  and  toll. 


TABLE  9:  KINDS  OF  BUSINESS  REPRESENTED  BY  182  OFFICE 
POSITIONS  WHICH  MADE  USE  OF  NEITHER  STENOGRAPHY  NOR 
BOOKKEEPING.  HELD  BY  COMMERCIALLY  TRAINED  BOYS  AND 
GIRLS  PREVIOUS  TO  THEIR  EMPLOYMENT  AT  THE  METROPOLITAN 
LIFE  INSURANCE  COMPANY. 


Kind  of  Business. 


Agency,   Bureau 

Architecture 

Banking   and   Trust 

Brokerage  

Commission    

Construction   

Insurance    

Importing,  Exporting 

Laboratory    

Law   

Mail  Order 

Manufacturing    

Municipal  Offices 

Printing  and  Publishing, 

Professional  

Public  Accountant 

Public  Stenography 

Real    Estate 

Retail   

Telephone,  Telegraph 

Transportation 

Wholesale   


No.  of  Boys' 
Positions. 

6 
1 
2 
0 
0 
2 
5 
2 
0 
4 
2 
9 
1 
6 
0 
1 
0 
4 
12 
2 
4 


No.  of  Girls' 
Positions. 

8 

0 

1 

4 

1 

0 

4 

0 

1 

0 

8 
16 

1 
18 

1 

0 

2 

0 
35 

7 

0 

4 


110 


TABLE  10:  ANALYSIS  OF  182  OFFICE  POSITIONS  WHICH  MADE 
tfSE  OF  NEITHER  STENOGRAPHY  NOR  BOOKKEEPING.  HELD  BY 
COMMERCIALLY  TRAINED  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  PREVIOUS  TO  THEIR 
EMPLOYMENT  AT  THE  METROPOLITAN  LIFE  INSURANCE  COM- 
PANY. 


Kind  of  Position. 
Clerk    

No.  of  Posi- 
tions Held 
by  Boys. 

29 

No.  of  Posi- 
tions Held 
by  Girls. 

38 

Clerical  Worker 

11 

27 

Typist    

0 

25 

Office   Boy 

18 

o 

General  Office  Assistant 

6 

9 

Telephone  Operator 

1 

8 

Filing  Assistant 

2 

1 

Collector   Agent  

3 

o 

Cashier   .    . 

o 

2 

Buyer   

1 

o 

Copy  Holder.. 

0 

1 

2.     Positions  held  by  Office  Employees  at  the  Metropolitan 
Life  Insurance  Company. 

Our  study  of  all  the  office  positions  of  the  Metropolitan 
Life  Insurance  Company  held  by  young  people  under 
twenty-one  years  of  age  cannot,  we  know,  be  accepted  as  a 
study  of  the  conditions  in  business  as  a  whole.  It  can  repre- 
sent only  the  conditions  likely  to  be  met  in  a  large,  standard- 
ized business.  But  standardization  exists  on  so  extensive 
a  scale  in  New  York  City,  and  its  tendency  to  spread  is  so 
great,  that  the  number  of  workers  involved  and  likely  to  be 
involved  is  sufficient  to  make  standardization  a  matter  to  be 
reckoned  with  in  questions  of  training.  Everyone  who  has 
contact  with  the  business  world  must  be  aware  of  the  hordes 
of  office  employees  to  be  found  in  railroad  and  other  trans- 
Ill 


portation  offices,  in  public  utilities  offices  such  as  the  tele- 
graph and  telephone,  in  wholesale  houses  of  the  sort  which 
maintain  establishments  in  several  cities,  in  the  offices  of 
large  insurance  corporations  and  many  other  kinds  of  al- 
ready standardized  business.  Our  information  concerning 
the  positions  at  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company, 
733  in  number,  includes,  for  each  position,  the  workers'  defi- 
nite statement  regarding  the  use  of  stenography  and  book- 
keeping; and,  in  the  case  of  those  workers  who  have  had 
commercial  training,  an  additional  statement  regarding  the 
general  value  of  their  training  to  the  position  in  question. 
As  Diagram  IX  shows,  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  boys' 
positions  and  nearly  all  the  girls',  find  neither  stenography 
nor  bookkeeping  useful,  as  such ;  not  one  position  finds  spe- 
cific use  for  stenography  and  bookkeeping  combined;  less 
than  one-fifth  of  the  boys'  positions,  and  a  negligible  portion 
of  the  girls',  use  bookkeeping  alone ;  and  the  use  of  stenog- 
raphy alone  is  for  both  sexes  negligible.  We  should  empha- 
size the  point  that  the  information  here  submitted  came  as 
direct  answers  to  definite  questions,  and  there  is  no  room  for 
conjecture,  in  so  far  as  the  workers'  opinion  is  concerned. 
The  representative  of  the  company  points  out,  in  this  con- 
nection, that  the  trained  boys  and  girls  are  likely  to  prove 
more  desirable  than  the  untrained  ones.  Yet,  he  was  will- 
ing to  concede  that,  for  those  not  specifically  employed  at 
stenographic  or  bookkeeping  work,  something  might  be 
taught  which  would  be  more  applicable  to  their  work  than 
the  ordinary  stenography  and  bookkeeping  training  which 
commercial  schools  generally  give.  The  records  show  that 
59  per  cent  of  the  boys  represented  and  68  per  cent  of  the 
girls  have  had  commercial  training. 


112 


Neither 
Stenography 
Nor  Book-keeping 


Book-keeping       19.6    [ 


DIAGRAM  IX. 
BOYS'  POSITIONS,  218. 


Stenography 


_  .  A 

Stenography         92.0 
Nor  Book-keeping 


1.8    Q 


GIRLS'  POSITIONS,  515. 


Book-keeping 


Stenography 


Use  of  stenography  and  bookkeeping  in  all  office  positions  held  by  employees 
of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company,  under  21  years  of  age,  September, 
1916. 


In  the  comments  which  commercially  trained  students 
made,  relative  to  the  value  of  the  training  in  their  present 
positions,  nearly  all  disclaimed  with  finality  that  it  had  any 
value  at  all.  The  statement  of  one  worker,  which  we  quote, 
is  not  only  typical  but  almost  a  verbatim  report  of  the 
comments  of  many  others: 

"In  my  course  at  the  Business  School,  I  re- 
ceived excellent  training.  At  the  present  time  it  is 
of  no  value  to  me." 

We  are  of  the  opinion  that  a  good  business  school  is  un- 
doubtedly helpful,  to  some  extent,  in  making  its  students 
acceptable  workers  whether  or  not  they  can  use  their  special 
training. 

113 


Although  only  thirty-five  persons  under  twenty-one  years 
of  age  in  the  employ  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance 
Company  claimed  use  of  stenography,  it  is  also  true  that, 
in  the  whole  organization — which  covers  an  army  of  5,500 
persons — approximately  350  stenographers  are  included. 
This  means  for  some  of  the  young  workers — and,  ad- 
mittedly, for  the  best  of  them — an  opportunity  to  use  their 
stenography  later;  for,  the  stenographic  force  is  recruited 
almost  wholly  from  persons  already  in  the  Company's  em- 
ploy. Thus  it  must  be  recognized  that  a  statement  of  the 
use  of  stenography,  limited  to  the  workers  under  twenty-one 
years,  is  not  completely  adequate.  There  may  of  course, 
be  a  long  intervening  period  before  an  opening  occurs.  In 
view  of  this,  the  Company  provides  speed  classes  which 
any  who  wish  may  attend,  so  that  their  practise  may  not  be 
lost.  And,  on  the  basis  of  proficiency  shown  in  the  speed 
classes,  the  Company  is  able  to  choose  the  most  promising 
candidate  when  a  worker  is  needed. 

3.     Positions  in  Business  Houses  of  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  positions  referred  to  in  Diagram  VIII  and  Table  10 
were  held  in  many  kinds  of  business,  standardized  and  un- 
standardized,  large  and  small.  But  we  cannot  tell  from 
these  representations  just  what  is  indicated  for  any  one 
business  with  regard  to  the  proportionate  demand  for 
workers  who  have  not  had  specific  training.  Such  demand 
was  made  an  object  of  special  study  in  a  report  dealing 
with  business  houses  of  Cleveland,  prepared  by  the  writer 
in  1915-1916.  A  summary,  taken  from  the  Cleveland  report 
and  giving  information  for  five  important  lines  of  business, 
is  offered  here  in  Table  11.  It  shows  the  number  of  steno- 
graphic, bookkeeping  and  other  office  workers  which  a 
single  establishment  in  each  business  employs.  If  any- 
one should  be  interested  to  know  in  detail  just  what  the 
"other  office  workers"  were,  the  facts  can  be  learned  by 

114 


consulting  the  report  of  the  Cleveland  Foundation  Educa- 
tion Survey  entitled  "Boys  and  Girls  in  Commercial  Work." 
It  will  be  noted  that  in  every  group  of  the  tabulation,  except 
the  banking  group,  the  "other  office  workers"  are  consider- 
ably more  than  the  sum  of  the  stenographic  and  bookkeep- 
ing workers.  "Other  office  workers"  make  up  81  per  cent  of 
the  total  number  of  persons  which  the  tabulation  covers. 

TABLE  11:  NUMBER  OF  STENOGRAPHIC,  BOOKKEEPING  AND 
OTHER  OFFICE  WORKERS  EMPLOYED  IN  FIVE  BUSINESS  HOUSES  OF 
CLEVELAND,  Ov  EACH  HOUSE  REPRESENTING  A  DIFFERENT  KIND 
OF  BUSINESS. 

RETAIL  (185  office  workers  in  a  store  having  1,000  employees)  : 

Stenographers    9 

Bookkeepers  and  Assistants,  Statistical  Workers     24 
Other  Office  Workers 152  (82.%) 

WHOLESALE    (88  office  workers   in   a  house   having   100  em- 
ployees) : 

Stenographers     5 

Bookkeepers  and  Assistants,  Accountants 14 

Other  Office  Workers 69(78.%) 

MANUFACTURING  (65  office  workers  in  a  factory  having  1,000 
employees)  : 

Stenographers    and   Dictaphone    Operators 6 

Bookkeeper,  Accountants  and  Assistants 18 

Other    Office    Workers 41(63.%) 

BANKING    (78  office  workers  in  a  banking  house  having  100 
employees)  : 

Stenographers     10 

Bookkeepers  and  Assistants 35 

Other  Office  Workers 33  (42.%) 

RAILROAD   (920  office  workers  in  railroad  offices  having  1,000 
employees)  : 

Stenographers   and  Typists 45 

Bookkeepers    (None.    A  few  clerks  use  book- 
keeping  methods ) 

Other  Office  Workers 875  (95.%) 

115 


4.     Positions  for  Youngest  Workers. 

Public  education  authorities  in  New  York  City  have  asked 
us  to  make  this  report  specific  with  regard  to  the  positions 
in  offices  which  young  workers  may  enter  who  have  not  had 
special  vocational  training  in  either  stenography  or  book- 
keeping. Tables  and  lists  already  presented  contain  some 
of  the  information  sought ;  but  for  our  best  material  we  are 
indebted  to  a  division  of  the  Department  of  Education.  If, 
therefore,  we  are  able  to  offer  useful  data,  it  is  because  the 
Bureau  of  Attendance  accomplished,  in  1915,  a  remarkable 
piece  of  follow-up  and  statistical  work  covering  1500  boys 
and  girls  to  whom  working  papers  had  been  granted.  Nearly 
all  came  within  the  age  limit  of  fourteen  to  eighteen  years  in- 
clusive. The  records  thus  obtained  and  tabulated  by  the 
Bureau  of  Attendance  are  described  by  it  as  follows : 

"The  entire  1500  was  made  up  of  records  of  750  boys 
and  750  girls.  In  all  there  are  some  3000  records 
on  file.  When  the  time  came  to  make  the  tabula- 
tion, funds  were  forthcoming  for  only  a  portion  of 
the  investigations  so  that  it  was  determined  to 
select  the  most  representative  and  complete  records 
from  the  total  number.  The  factor  of  nationality 
was  there  kept  in  mind/'  . 

Of  1500  tabulated  positions  316  were  in  some  sort  of  office 
work,  177  being  held  by  boys  and  139  by  girls.  We  have 
learned  from  the  records  that  85  per  cent  of  the  boys  and 
63  per  cent  of  the  girls  entered  their  work  without  com- 
mercial training.  The  positions  of  these  untrained  boys 
and  girls,  their  wages,  their  age  and  the  kinds  of  business 
in  which  the  positions  were  held  are  listed  in  Tables  12*  and 
13.*  We  believe  that  the  variety  of  business  and  positions 
represented  makes  the  lists  acceptable  as  a  cross  section 
of  the  kind  of  opportunities  offered  to  young  workers  by 
the  city  as  a  whole.  Tables  18*  and  19*  which  follow  give 

*See  appendix. 

116 


corresponding  information  for  the  boys  and  girls  who  had 
commercial  training.  We  present  these  tabulations  in  de- 
tail because  we  consider  it  worth  the  reader's  while  to  study 
them  and  to  note  the  similarity  of  the  positions  and  wages 
in  the  two  sets  of  Tables  12,  13  and  14,  15.  We  believe  that 
this  similarity  of  opportunity  for  trained  and  untrained 
workers  has  significance  for  education.  In  the  case  of  the 
boys,  the  positions  in  the  two  tables  are  almost  identical; 
and  if  there  is  a  salary  difference  it  appears  to  be  in  favor 
of  the  untrained  boy.  The  girls*  tables  show  similarity 
also;  but  the  trained  group  includes  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  stenographic  and  typing  positions  which,  of  course, 
do  not  appear  in  the  case  of  workers  who  have  not  been 
trained. 

AN  OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL. 

The  significance  of  this  study  is,  we  believe,  not  that 
training  is  unnecessary,  but  that  training  need  not  in  all  or 
most  cases  prepare  specifically  for  stenography  and  book- 
keeping positions.  A  training  for  clerical  positions  in  busi- 
ness, in  which  general  education  is  made  an  important 
factor  is  obviously  needed.  What  specifically  should  be  the 
content  of  the  training,  this  report,  which  does  not  deal 
primarily  with  the  field  of  work,  is  not  prepared  to  say.  A 
separate,  special  study  must  find  this  out.  We  think,  how- 
ever, that  Tables  12  to  15  inclusive  are  full  of  suggestion.  In 
any  case,  such  training  may  be  expected  to  require  less  time 
than  is  demanded  in  the  preparation  of  stenographers  and 
bookkeepers.  The  introduction  of  such  training  into  the 
vocational  courses  of  the  public  school  could,  by  reason 
of  its  shortness  and  its  practical  application  to  wage  earn- 
ing, prove  the  most  effective  and  sure  defense  against  those 
private  schools  which  are  trying  to  make  stenographers 
of  pupils  too  young,  too  ignorant  or  too  dull  to  reap  success 
from  their  training.  This  we  have  further  discussed  in  the 
chapter  that  follows.  Some  experimenting  is  already  being 
done  by  the  Board  of  Education  with  regard  to  a  clerical 
training  in  which  stenography  is  not  included.  It  is  wise 
no  doubt,  that  this  experiment  is  being  carried  on  in  con- 

117 


nection  with  elementary  rather  than  High  School  instruc- 
tion. A  short  extension  course  put  into  an  elementary 
school  will  be  likely  to  capture  children  who  might  other- 
wise be  leaving;  but  an  abbreviated  course  put  into  a  High 
School  would  be  likely  to  tempt  pupils  who  could,  if  they 
would,  remain  for  more  complete  education. 

CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

1.  A  general  study  of  office  work  in  New  York  City  needs 

to  be  made,  with  reference  to  the  training  of  young 
workers.    Present  information  indicates  that : 

a.  Training  for  a  significant  proportion  of  office  work- 
ers need  not  include  stenography  and  bookkeeping 
as  vocational  subjects. 

b.  There  is,  in  New  York  City,  an  under-supply  of 
reliable,   well-educated    stenographers;   and   there 
is  a  large  over-supply  of  inefficient  stenographers 
who  are  unsuitable  for  either  stenographic  or  un- 
specialized  clerical  positions. 

c.  Girls  find  their  best  business  opportunity  in  stenog- 
raphy, provided  they  have  adequate  general  edu- 
cation and  the  necessary  personal  qualifications. 

d.  Specialized  training  may  be  especially  insignificant 
in  the  case  of  the  youngest  wage-earners,  because 
they  appear  to  hold  similar  or  identical  positions 
irrespective  of  training. 

2.  Our  conclusion,  regarding  the  numbers  of  non  steno- 

graphic clerical  positions  now  being  held  alike  by 
workers  trained  and  untrained  in  stenography,  is  not 
that  training  is  unnecessary,  but  that  a  training  is 
needed  which  does  not  specialize  in  stenography  or 
bookkeeping.  In  any  case,  drill  in  fundamental  Eng- 
lish branches  is  essential. 

3.  A  course  in  business  training,  which  does  not  include 

specialized  training  in  stenography  or  bookkeeping, 
could  be  made  much  shorter  than  a  course  which  in- 
cludes them. 

118 


CHAPTER   7. 
PUBLIC  CONTROL  OF  PRIVATE  SCHOOLS. 


Any  person  may  open,  maintain  or  close  a  private  com- 
mercial school  in  New  York  City  without  restriction. 
No  credentials  of  any  sort  are  officially  demanded. 

The  Bureau  of  Attendance  may  restrict  from  attend- 
ance at  private  commercial  schools  any  children  who 
are  under  16,  provided  they  are  not  elementary  school 
graduates  and  the  private  school  does  not  teach,  in 
conformity  to  law,  the  subjects  required  for  such  chil- 
dren. But  the  Bureau  of  Attendance  cannot  always  know 
when  such  children  are  in  attendance  at  private  com- 
mercial schools. 

The  Regents  of  New  York  State  inspect  private  com- 
mercial schools  and  offer  to  the  public  a  list  of  recom- 
mended schools.  But  Regents'  inspection  depends  upon 
the  invitation  of  the  private  schools  and  the  schools'  pay- 
ment to  the  state  of  an  annual  inspection  fee  of  $20. 
The  Regents'  list  of  recommended  schools  for  Greater 
New  York  includes  only  six  names. 


One  of  New  York's  private  commercial  schools  calls 
attention,  in  its  printed  catalog,  to  the  freedom  of  commer- 
cial schools  to  come  into  existence  or  to  continue  to  exist 
without  question  on  the  part  of  the  public.  We  quote  here 
something  of  what  is  said: 

"WHICH  SCHOOL  WILL  YOU  ATTEND? 

No  Doctor,  Dentist  or  Lawyer  can  practice  in  the  State 
of  New  York  without  having  secured  a  license  to  do 
so  by  having  the  most  rigid  examination  as  to  his 
ability. 

These  men  protect  our  health  and  happiness.  The  state  re- 
gards these  of  sufficient  importance  to  guard  them 
zealously. 

The  most  incompetent  is  privileged  to  conduct  a  school. 

The  only  requisites  are  a  gilded  sign,  some  equipment  and 
the  rental  of  a  room. 

To  the  unwary  such  a  school  has  all  the  ear  marks  of  a 
reputable  institution.  Little  do  they  dream  of  the  in- 
competency  that  lurks  within." 

Chapter  7  is  based  upon  the  following  data: 
Material  used  in  previous  chapters. 
Compulsory    education    law   and   Regents'    rules. 

119 


The  harm  done  by  a  poor  or  unscrupulous  school  is  eco- 
nomic in  character,  and  not  so  obvious,  as  the  catalog 
states,  as  that  done  by  malpractice  in  medicine  or  law. 
Hordes  of  out-of-work  people,  seeking  positions  they  are 
incapable  of  filling,  may  become  a  community  concern; 
and,  for  the  sake  of  both  the  individual  student  and  the 
community,  there  is  need  to  check  the  present  freedom  in 
opening,  maintaining  or  closing  private  schools  concerned 
with  commercial  or  other  instruction. 

It  should,  undoubtedly,  be  in  the  power  of  state  or  muni- 
cipal authority  to  inspect  and  regulate  all  educational  insti- 
tutions within  state  or  city  limits.  As  the  situation  is  now, 
such  authority  is  not  clearly  defined  except  in  so  far  as  it 
affects  children  of  compulsory  education  age.  This  report 
has  shown  that  schools  of  widely  different  quality  offer 
courses  of  study  similarly  described,  and  charged  for  at 
similar  cost.  Although  the  public  may  be  aided  by  certain 
general  rules  upon  which  to  base  discrimination  among 
schools,  there  can  be  no  sure  protection  until  authorized 
inspection  and  standardized  requirements  are  practically 
achieved. 

REGENTS  REGISTRATION. 

At  the  present  time  the  only  authoritative  step  in  that 
direction  has  been  taken  by  the  New  York  State  Board 
of  Regents.  This  body  offers  to  the  public  a  recom- 
mended list  of  private  commercial  schools.  Any  school 
which  meets  certain  specified  conditions  may  be  registered 
on  the  recommended  list.  The  rule  of  procedure  is  that 
the  applicant  for  registration  shall  invite  the  Regents'  in- 
spector to  visit  his  school,  and  shall  pay  for  this  form  of 
State  service  an  annual  fee  of  $20.  We  believe  that  inspec- 
tors' visits  should  not  be  dependent  upon  invitation  and 
that  no  fee  should  be  charged  a  school  in  consequence  of 
State  inspection. 

120 


There  is,  at  present,  a  confusion  of  terms  in  commercial 
school  catalogs  that  may  be  in  some  cases  deliberate  mis- 
representation. A  private  school  may  be  incorporated  by 
the  State  Department  of  Education.  But  incorporation 
does  not  carry  with  it  sanction  of  the  courses  offered,  and 
no  school  is  entitled  to  use  the  term  "incorporated"  as  an 
equivalent  for  registration.  In  certain  private  schools,  par- 
ticularly those  which  maintain  academic  preparatory  de- 
partments, some  subject  or  subjects  may  be  approved  for 
Regents'  examinations;  but  approval  for  examination  does 
not  entitle  the  school  to  advertise  itself  as  recommended 
in  the  sense  that  a  registered  school  may  do  it. 

A  summary  of  the  Regents'  requirements  for  recom- 
mended schools  is  given  below.  A  supplementary  schedule 
shows  that,  in  connection  with  Rules  1  and  2  the  inspector 
ascertains  the  number  and  condition  of  fire-escapes,  the 
hall  space,  the  character  of  the  stairways,  the  condition  of 
lavatories,  and  the  system  of  ventilation,  heating  and  light ; 
also,  the  number  of  pupils,  the  number  of  rooms  for  study 
and  recitation,  the  seating  arrangements,  the  kinds  and 
number  of  typewriters,  and  the  provision  of  other  equip- 
ment. For  Rules  4  and  5  he  inquires  about  the  number 
of  men  and  women  employed  as  teachers,  and  the  quality 
of  their  training;  and  he  determines  what  is  being  taught 
under  the  titles  of  bookkeeping,  commercial  arithmetic, 
commercial  law,  commercial  geography,  commercial  cor- 
respondence, commercial  English,  business  writing,  rapid 
calculation,  shorthand,  typewriting,  and  other  subjects. 
Furthermore  he  notes  the  age  of  the  school,  its  entrance 
and  graduation  requirements,  and  makes  inquiry  relative 
to  the  school's  advertising  methods  and  its  guarantee  to 
students. 


121 


EXTRACTS  FROM  REGENTS  RULES. 

Section  23 :  A  commercial  school  may  be  registered 
as  maintaining  a  satisfactory  standard  upon  the  payment 
of  an  annual  fee  of  $20  and  upon  the  report  of  the  De- 
partment inspector  that  it  meets  the  following  require- 
ments : 

1.-    Suitable  building  or  rooms  for  the  conduct  of 
its  work. 

2.  Suitable  equipment  for  the  courses  given  by 
the    school. 

3 .  Reputation  for  fair  and  honest  dealing  with  its 
students,  and  the  public. 

4.  Faculty  of  teachers  whose  training  has  been 
not  less  than  that  required  of  teachers  engaged 
in  similar  work  in  public  schools. 

5.  An  approved  course  of  study  which  includes 
at  least  the  following  subjects :    Bookkeeping, 
commercial  arithmetic,  commercial  law,  Eng- 
lish,    commercial     correspondence,     business 
writing,  shorthand  and  typewriting. 

Registered  commercial  schools  must  file  with  the  Uni- 
versity copies  of  all  advertising  literature,  including  cat- 
alogs, pamphlets,  circulars,  etc.,  and  an  annual  report,  on 
or  before  July  31st  of  each  year. 

No  registration  certificate,  except  the  one  for  the  cur- 
rent year,  shall  be  publicly  displayed. 

For  examinations  in  registered  commercial  schools,  see 
rule  231-b. 

Among  approximately  100  private  commercial  schools  in 
Greater  New  York  only  six  are  at  the  present  time  regis- 
tered by  the  Regents.  These  are  as  follows : 

122 


PRIVATE   COMMERCIAL  SCHOOLS  IN    NEW  YORK   CITY  REGISTERED 
BY    THE   REGENTS    1916-1917. 

Eastman  Gaines  School 

Merchants'  and  Bankers'  Business  School 

The  Miller  School 

Packard  Commercial  School 

Paine  Up-town  Business  School 

Pratt  Business  School 


It  must  not  be  understood  from  this  that  only  six  schools 
are  qualified  for  registration;  for  there  are  many  schools 
which  do  not  apply  for  inspection,  and  some  of  these  give 
excellent  training.  Some  school  managers  said  the  regis- 
tered list  is  so  small  and  so  little  known  that  they  could 
see  no  special  value  in  placing  their  schools'  name  upon  it ; 
a  few  of  the  older,  well  established  schools  claimed  a  foot- 
hold in  the  community  solid  enough  to  make  such  adver- 
tising unnecessary;  one  manager  said  he  considered  his 
school  superior  to  some  of  the  schools  on  the  list,  and 
thought  that  by  associating  his  school's  name  with  the  other 
names,  he  would  lose  his  high  standing.  These  managers 
were  asked  if  their  attitude  would  be  reversed  if  (1)  the  list 
were  considerably  increased  so  that  the  schools  not  in- 
cluded on  it  were  conspicuous  by  their  absence,  and  if  (2) 
considerable  publicity  were  given  to  the  list.  In  most  cases 
they  gave  an  affirmative  answer.  But  certain  educational 
authorities  have  pointed  out  the  difficulty  in  arranging  for 
adequate  inspection  so  long  as  it  remains  voluntary  on  the 
part  of  the  schools  to  submit  to  it;  also,  the  dubiousness 
of  doing  advertising  which  the  private  schools  will  regard 
as  effective  because  of  the  predisposition  of  the  public 
schools  to  keep  pupils,  if  they  can,  in  the  public  school 
system. 

123 


LEGALIZING  THE  SCHOOLS. 

It  would  seem  that  the  requirements  specified  by  the 
Regents  are  the  minimum  requirements  which  any  commer- 
cial school  should  have;  and  that,  instead  of  putting  upon 
an  approved  list  those  schools  which  voluntarily  comply 
with  the  standard,  all  schools  offering  commercial  instruc- 
tion should,  by  law,  be  compelled  to  comply  and,  thereby, 
constitute  a  list  of  legal  schools.  In  order  to  make  the  re- 
quirements applicable  to  schools  which  definitely  specialize 
in  certain  subjects  such  as  shorthand,  filing,  or  accounting, 
and  make  no  claim  to  a  complete  commercial  course,  we 
would  suggest  that  Rule  5  of  Section  23  be  so  amended  that 
the  school  will  be  held  responsible  for  the  quality  of  in- 
struction in  only  those  courses  which  it  claims  to  offer. 
In  the  case  of  schools  which  take  students  who  have  not 
passed  the  age  limit  for  compulsory  education,  the  academic 
subjects  prescribed  by  law  will  have  to  be  included.  Refer- 
ence to  this  matter  is  made  later  in  the  chapter. 

The  experience  of  the  present  investigation  has  shown 
that  special  attention  needs  to  be  given  to  the  date  of  the 
publication  of  texts  used,  especially  in  those  schools  in 
which  the  use  of  books  is  free  of  charge.  We  believe  the 
regulations  should  stipulate  that  students  in  typing  should 
be  taught  to  operate  at  least  three  different  kinds  of  type- 
writers of  standard  manufacture,  and  that  there  should  be 
enough  class  rooms  so  that  studying  and  reciting  need  not 
be  done  in  typewriting  rooms  when  the  typewriters  are  in 
use.  We  believe  that,  wherever  the  teaching  of  English 
and  arithmetic  is  claimed,  the  manner  and  amount  of  teach- 
ing should  be  clearly  defined  by  the  school  so  that  the 
inspector  and  the  public  shall  know  whether  these  subjects 
are  separately  considered,  or  are  merely  incidental  to 
stenographic  or  bookkeeping  instruction. 

There  is  nothing,  at  present,  to  prevent  a  new  school  from 
coming  into  existence,  or  an  old  school  from  trying  to  con- 

124 


tinue,  with  insufficient  capitalization.  When  a  school  fails  it 
may  be  the  pupils  who  suffer  the  brunt  of  misfortune.  It 
would  seem,  therefore,  that  a  school,  in  order  to  be  legal, 
should  be  guaranteed  for  the  reputableness  and  solvency  of 
its  owners  as  well  as  for  the  quality  of  instruction  it  offers 
and  the  condition  of  its  equipment. 

THE  CRUX  OF  THE  PRIVATE  COMMERCIAL  SCHOOL  SITUATION. 

Even  though  New  York  City  should  be  able  to  achieve  a 
state  of  things  whereby  safe  schools  and  good  schools 
should  prevail  in  the  field  of  commercial  training,  the  chief 
difficulty  might  still  be  left  untouched.  Reasonably  good 
training  in  stenography  or  bookkeeping  is  probably  to  be 
had  in  almost  any  private  commercial  school,  provided  the 
person  who  undertakes  it  is  mature,  intelligent,  self-reliant, 
and  well  educated  in  English  branches.  But,  as  a  rule,  the 
schools  have  students  who  are  immature,  dull  or  bright  as 
it  may  happen,  and  of  meagre  general  education;  and  in 
taking  such  students,  the  private  schools  should  also  take 
upon  themselves  the  burden  of  thorough,  fundamental  train- 
ing and  supplementary  general  education.  This  burden, 
however,  the  private  commercial  schools  do  not  in  most 
cases  assume.  Specific  vocational  subjects  are  taught,  and 
a  pupil  of  any  degree  of  fitness  or  unfitness  must  do  what 
he  can  with  them.  If  he  fails  the  school  does  not  take  the 
blame;  it  points  to  other  students  who  did  not  fail.  The 
chief  fault  lies,  then,  in  the  kind  of  students  which  private 
commercial  schools  are  willing  to  accept  for  training. 

What  check  can  be  put  upon  private  schools  in  the  matter 
of  admission  of  students?  The  compulsory  education  law 
already  has  power  to  safeguard  the  youngest  children  who 
may  try  to  enter  upon  private  commercial  instruction.  All 
children  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  sixteen,  if  they  are 
not  employed,  or  have  not  an  employment  certificate,  must  have 

125 


regular  schooling  for  the  whole  time  that  public  schools  are 
in  session.  In  regard  to  the  substitution  of  a  private  school 
for  a  public  one  the  law  says,  in  part : 

"If  any  child  shall  so  attend  upon  instruction  else- 
where than  at  a  public  school,  such  instruction 
shall  be  at  least  substantially  equivalent  to  the  in- 
struction given  children  of  like  age  by  the  public 
schools  of  the  city  in  the  district  in  which  such 
child  resides;  and  such  attendance  shall  be  for  at 
least  as  many  hours  each  day  as  are  required  of 
children  of  like  age  at  public  schools; — ." 

"Instruction  substantially  equivalent"  to  the  instruction 
given  in  public  schools  is,  elsewhere  in  the  law,  made  to  in- 
clude "at  least  the  six  common  school  branches  of  reading, 
spelling,  writing,  arithmetic,  language  and  geography, 
taught  in  English."  These  are  elementary  school  subjects; 
and  no  child  under  sixteen,  who  is  not  an  elementary 
school  graduate,  is  free  to  attend  a  private  commercial 
school,  unless  all  these  subjects  are  taught  there  and  unless 
his  attendance  at  the  private  school  is  for  at  least  five  hours 
a  day,  five  days  a  week,  nine  months  of  the  year.  Since  it  is 
exceptional  for  private  commercial  schools  to  teach  all  these 
subjects  or  to  offer  a  period  of  attendance  of  such  duration, 
it  is  therefore  probable  that  few,  if  any,  of  the  non-graduate 
children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  enrolled  at  private  com- 
mercial schools  are  legally  excused  from  the  public  schools. 
The  Bureau  of  Attendance  looks  after  such  violations  to 
the  extent  that  it  is  able  to  learn  of  them. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  PRINCIPALS  AND  TEACHERS 

Elementary  school  principals  and  teachers  have  an  ac- 
knowledged influence  in  the  vocational  and  educational 
choices  which  their  students  make.  Such  persons  can  have 
a  special  understanding  of  a  pupil's  capacity  and  needs, 
and  of  the  limitations  of  his  home  environment;  their  handi- 

126 


cap  is  likely  to  be  in  a  lack  of  specific  knowledge  about  the 
world  of  occupations  and  of  opportunities  for  occupational 
training,  which  lies  outside  the  public  school.  In  their  de- 
sire to  stay  on  safe  ground  they  have  a  tendency  to  advise 
pupils  generally  to  refrain  from  attending  a  private  com- 
mercial school,  and  to  enter  High  School  if  they  can.  But 
if  the  teacher  cannot  convince  a  pupil  that  success  for  him, 
individually,  does  not  lie  in  private  commercial  school 
training;  if  she  cannot  show  how  he  can  quickly  become 
wage  earning  in  a  field  acceptable  to  him,  by  any  route  ex- 
cept that  of  the  private  school;  and  if  the  economic  facts 
make  entrance  upon  a  four  or  three  year  high  school  course 
prohibitive — what  can  the  pupil  do  but  choose  the  private 
school? 

The  experience  of  this  investigation  leads  to  the  opinion 
that  the  average  elementary  school  graduate  is  not  ready 
for  the  kind  of  commercial  education  which  private  schools, 
in  general,  offer.  The  aim  of  the  average  business  school 
is  the  manufacture  of  stenographers  and  bookkeepers  in  a 
hurry.  Business  wants,  however,  not  more  of  such  workers 
as  it  now  receives,  but  better  ones.  School  principals  and 
teachers  should  have  access  to  information  which  shows 
concretely  what  the  demands  of  business  are.  They  should 
be  able  to  point  out  to  children  the  range  of  office  positions 
which  general  education  helps,  but  which  are  not  dependent 
upon  stenographic  or  bookkeeping  training.  They  should 
know  that  the  alternative  of  industrial  work  is  not  to  be 
shunned  as  undesirable  in  the  case  of  some  of  those  pupils 
who  are  unadapted  to  office  training.  And  they  should  bear 
in  mind,  as  without  doubt  many  of  them  do,  that  no  one 
should  consider  stenographic  training  who  has  not  normal 
hearing  and  sight,  who  has  not  reasonably  deft  fingers,  or 
a  degree  of  nervous  energy  to  aid  him  in  typing;  who  is  not 
free  from  noticeable  physical  defects.  Normal  posture  is 

127 


an  important  consideration,  because  constant  sitting  at  the 
typewriter  will  increase  defects.  They  should,  and  prob- 
ably do,  know  that  no  one  can  count  upon  success  in  steno- 
graphic work  who  is  not  proficient  in  the  writing  and  speak- 
ing of  well  expressed  English ;  who  has  not  a  good  and  fair- 
ly extensive  vocabulary;  who  is  not  able  to  spell;  who  has 
not  reasonably  quick  comprehension ;  and  who  does  not  pre- 
sent a  good  personal  appearance.  In  many  positions,  one 
whose  speech  or  appearance  are  noticeably  foreign  will  find 
himself  handicapped.  But  if  these  things  were  known  to 
the  teachers  in  such  a  way  that  they  could  be  put  concretely 
and  forcibly  to  the  children,  the  situation  would  have  more 
help  than  it  is  likely  to  get  from  general,  unillustrated  state- 
ment. It  is  possible  that  the  kind  of  information  we  have 
set  forth  in  Chapter  3  could  be  useful  in  this  connection. 

It  is  claimed  by  private  schools  that  they  can  serve  as  the 
door  by  which  a  boy  or  girl  may  enter  business;  that, 
whether  or  not  the  pupil  makes  use  of  specific  training,  the 
position  he  gets  is  found  with  the  help  of  the  school;  and 
that  it  would  not  have  been  found,  in  all  likelihood,  without 
that  help.  This  claim  has  less  ground  for  truth  now  that  it 
had  a  few  years  ago.  The  activity  of  free,  non-commercial 
employment  bureaus  in  New  York  City,  carried  on  by  pub- 
lic and  private  auspices  and  giving  careful  attention  to  the 
needs  of  juvenile  workers,  is  increasing  at  a  rate  that  war- 
rants for  these  bureaus  serious  consideration;  and  it  gives 
to  children's  advisors  in  the  public  schools  an  answering 
argument. 

EFFECTIVE  CONTROL  THROUGH  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  EDUCATION. 

While  continuance  to  enforce  the  compulsory  education 
law,  and  the  influence  of  elementary  school  principals  and 
teachers  can  help  to  check  the  indiscriminate  admission  of 
pupils  to  private  commercial  instruction,  nothing  adequate 

128 


will  ever  be  accomplished  until  the  public  school  offers  a 
course  of  training  which  sets  up  an  effective  rivalry  to  that 
now  offered  by  private  commercial  schools.  If  the  public 
school  has  not,  in  all  these  years,  thought  it  best  to  offer 
to  elementary  school  graduates  a  short,  intensive,  sten- 
ographic course  preparing  for  wage  earning,  there  must 
have  been  a  reason.  And  that  reason  was  rightly,  no  doubt, 
that  such  training  is  not  suitable  for  the  average  graduate 
of  the  elementary  school.  But  we  believe  that  most  child- 
ren who  enter  private  schools  are  not  so  determined  upon 
learning  stenography  in  the  months  following  graduation, 
as  they  are  upon  learning  something,  or  anything,  that  will 
prepare  them  quickly  to  earn  wages  in  office  positions. 
They  go  to  private  schools  because  private  schools  promise 
or  give  hope  of  positions  and  the  course  is  brief;  and  they 
study  stenography  because  stenography  is  the  thing  that 
is  offered.  It  remains  for  the  public  school  to  take  cogniz- 
ance of  the  growing  need  in  business  for  office  workers  of 
general  training;  and  to  provide  that  training  adequately 
in  a  brief,  intensive,  vocational  course.  When  such  a  course 
has  been  developed  and  extended  the  public  school  will  be 
able  to  prevent,  to  a  great  extent,  the  study  of  stenography 
by  those  who  ought  not  to  undertake  it. 

Undoubtedly  many  of  the  boys  and  girls  who  might  apply 
to  the  public  school  for  a  one-year  non-stenographic  cleri- 
cal course  would  be  turned  away  because  of  their  unfitness 
for  any  sort  of  clerical  training.  Some  of  these  rejected 
pupils  might  then  seek  private  schools;  but  we  believe  the 
clear-cut,  frankly  explained  refusal  of  the  public  school  to 
accept  the  boy  or  girl  in  question  for  clerical  training  would 
deter  many  parents  from  investing  money  in  private  instruc- 
tion. But  only  when  the  public  school  offers  training  com- 
parable in  length  of  course  with  that  given  in  private 
schools,  can  public  school  influence,  through  rejection,  be 
felt. 

129 


Plans  for  an  intensive  course  should  eliminate  time  waste, 
without  forgetting  educational  ideals;  and,  in  their  special 
effort  to  help  the  pupil  to  earn  his  living,  these  plans  should 
not  forget  to  help  him  to  live.  The  more  a  pupil's  years  in 
formal  education  have  to  be  limited,  the  more  should  the 
school  strive  to  give  the  pupil,  before  he  leaves  it,  a  little 
glimpse  and  understanding  of  the  beauty  and  wonder  of  the 
world  he  lives  in,  of  his  individual  capacity  for  expression, 
and  of  his  civic  responsibilities.  These  factors  become  in- 
creasingly necessary  as  business  becomes  more  and  more 
standardized  and  offers  in  work  less  chance  for  initiative 
and  individual  expression.  No  course  should  be  too  voca- 
tional, or  too  short  to  take  account  of  them.  This  the  pri- 
vate commercial  schools,  even  though  they  should  modify 
the  general  character  of  their  courses  to  meet  the  changing 
demands  in  business,  cannot  be  expected  to  do.  The  pri- 
vate commercial  schools,  we  believe,  should  reserve  their 
services  for  students  of  maturer  age.  The  younger  and 
more  impressionable  years  belong  to  the  forces  of  public 
education. 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

1  All  private  educational  institutions  in  the  state  should 
be  compelled  to  register  annually  with  the  State  De- 
partment of  Education. 

2  Commercial  instruction  in  private  schools  needs  to  be 
standardized  and  officially  supervised. 

3  The  public  needs  some  plan  of  protection  against  under- 
capitalized,    insolvent     or     financially     unscrupulous 
schools.    It  has  been  suggested  that  owners  of  private 
educational  institutions  should  be  bonded. 

4  There  is  no  adequate  means,  at  present,  on  which  to 
base  a  safe  choice  among  schools,  even  in  the  matter  of 

130 


instruction.  The  Regents'  list  of  six  schools  is  help- 
ful, but  it  is  limited  by  its  brevity. 

If  the  Regents'  power  is  to  become  widely  effective, 
the  department  of  inspection  should  be  given  the  neces- 
sary appropriation  and  authority  to  visit  all  schools  ir- 
respective of  the  schools'  consent  or  invitation;  to  re- 
quire specific  changes  or  improvements;  or,  if  neces- 
sary, to  order  schools  closed.  No  fee  should  be  charged 
a  school  as  a  condition  of  such  inspection.  In  place 
of  an  unrepresentative  recommended  list,  we  should 
have  a  list  of  all  schools  which  are  recognized  as  hav- 
ing a  legal  right  to  exist. 

But  adequate  commercial  instruction  and  good  equip- 
ment, thus  assured,  will  not  cover  the  most  important 
difficulty  in  the  situation — which  is  the  admission  of 
persons  to  the  schools  who  are  too  young,  ignorant  or 
dull  to  profit  by  the  instruction. 

It  should  be  required  of  private  commercial  schools  to 
send  to  the  Bureau  of  Attendance  the  names  of  all 
pupils  who  come  under  the  compulsory  education  law. 
The  Bureau  of  Attendance  could  then  find  out  whether 
the  pupils  are  receiving  the  program  of  instruction 
which  the  law  requires. 

If  those  persons  who  unwisely  enter  private  commer- 
cial schools,  are  above  the  age  of  compulsory  educa- 
tion no  authority  can  touch  the  situation.  The  hope  of 
solution  will  be  for  the  public  school  to  go  as  far  as 
practicable  in  meeting  the  desire  of  young  people  for 
brief,  vocational  training  in  an  acceptable  field  of  work. 
That  is,  the  establishment  of  an  effective  rivalry  is  the 
public  school's  only  means  of  controlling  the  worst  fea- 
ture of  the  private  commercial  school  situation. 

If  the  public  school  offers  a  short  course,  comparable 
in  length  and  practicability  to  the  courses  offered  in 
private  schools,  it  may  be  expected  to  refuse  to  admit 
to  that  course  girls  and  boys  who  are  unsuitable  or  not 

131 


ready  for  clerical  work.  Of  course,  some  of  the  refused 
applicants  will  then  turn  to  the  private  schools ;  but  we 
believe  that  parents,  in  general,  can  be  influenced  by 
the  public  school's  decision. 

10  The  private  commercial  schools  cannot  be  expected,  in 
their  courses,  to  consider  the  broader  aspects  and  ideals 
of  education.  Thus  the  younger  and  more  impression- 
able years  of  students'  lives  belong  to  the  forces  of  pub- 
lic education. 


132 


A  SUMMARY  OF  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

To  make  private  schools  safe,  in  New  York  City,  there  is  need 
for: 

The  issuing  of  a  State  license,  without  which  it  should 
be  illegal  to  open  or  maintain  any  sort  of  private  educa- 
tional institution. 

Annual  registration  of  all  private  educational  institu- 
tions with  the  State  Department  of  Education.  Regis- 
tration should  be  compulsory  upon  these  institutions. 

State  censorship  of  advertising  material.  It  should  be 
required  of  the  schools  to  file  with  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  Education,  samples  of  all  forms  used. 

Official  standardization  of  course  of  study,  entrance 
requirements,  preparation  of  teachers,  and  equipment. 
Also,  schools  should  furnish  to  the  State  evidence  of 
solvency  and  sufficient  capitalization. 

Regular  official  inspection  and  supervision,  with  power 
to  revoke  licenses. 

A  published  official  list  of  schools  which  are  legally  en- 
titled to  exist. 


To  keep  unfit  pupils  from  entering  private  commercial  schools, 
there  is  need  for: 

Enforcement  of  the  compulsory  education  law.  Schools 
'  enrolling  pupils  who  are  under  the  law,  should  be  re- 
quired to  report  the  names  of  such  pupils  to  the  Bureau 
of  Attendance.  The  Bureau  of  Attendance  would  then 
determine  whether  the  pupils  are  being  instructed  in 
conformity  to  law;  and  if  necessary,  coukl  compel  their 
return  to  the  public  schools. 

Popular  propaganda,  directed  to  parents  and  public 
school  children,  which  will  inform  them  convincingly 
that  the  average  eighth-grade  pupil  is  not  ready  to 
study  stenography;  that  success  in  any  kind  of  office 

133 


position,  is  likely  to  depend  upon  good  academic  pre- 
paration ;  and  that  the  alternative  of  factory  work  need 
not  be  shunned,  since  such  work  may  be  both  dignified 
and  profitable. 

Public  school  competition,  whereby  the  public  schools 
offer,  like  the  private  schools,  a  brief  vocational  exten- 
sion course  for  office  training.  Such  a  course,  however, 
should  not  include  stenography  and  it  should  be  re- 
fused to  unsuitable  candidates.  Parents  of  children  thus 
refused  should  be  informed  of  the  fact  and  the  reason. 

Publicity  with  regard  to  the  proportionate  number  of 
pupils  who  leave  private  commercial  schools  before 
graduation  Schools  should  be  required  to  send  to  the 
State  Department  of  Education,  lists  of  names  of  per- 
sons entered  and  graduated  within  the  year. 


To  raise  the  standard  of  commercial  education,  there  is  need 
for: 

Some  recognized  organization,  such  as  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  the  State  Association  of  Commercial 
Schools,  or  the  League  of  Business  Opportunities  for 
Women,  to  formulate  a  standard  higher  than  the  legal  one 
and  to  publish  a  list  of  schools  which  conform  to  it. 


134 


APPENDIX. 

TABLE  12:  OFFICE  POSITIONS  HELD  BY  UNTRAINED  BOYS 
14  TO  18  YEARS  OF  AGE  INCLUSIVE.  BUREAU  OF  ATTENDANCE 
RECORDS,  1915. 

Bookkeepers  4       Wage  Range  $5-9       Age  Range  16 

BUSINESS  KIND  OF  WORK  WAGE      AGE 

Furniture  and  Fixture.  Asst.  bookkeeper.  Typewrites  all  bills 

and  takes  care  of  ledger $9.00  16 

Embroidery  and  Lace.  Asst.  bookkeeper.  Enters  orders  re- 
ceived and  checks  deliveries 8.00  16 

Clothing— Outer   Bookkeeper   7.00  16 

Furniture  and  Fixture. Asst.  bookkeeper  5.00  16 

Clerks  95        Wage  Range  $3-16        Age  Range  14-18 

Railroad Billing  clerk  $16.00        17 

Railroad   Receives  all   freight  shipped  to   N.  Y. 

and  collected  by  wagon 12.00        17 

Banking  and  Broker- 
age    Weighing  and  in  charge  of  testing  coffee     1 1.00        18 

Clothing — Outer   Helper,  shipping  department 11.00        17 

Civil    Service Clerk   10.00        18 

Stationery  General  office-worker   10.00        18 

Banking   and    Broker- 
age    Junior  clerk.    Statistical  work 10.00        18 

Toilet  Articles Shipper.     Makes  out  bills  and  directs 

drivers    10.00        18 

Shirtwaists — Ladies  ...Asst.  buyer  and  receiving  clerk 10.00        17 

Advertising Junior  clerk.     Secretary  to  member  of 

firm    9.25        17 

Real  Estate Office  asst.  File  clerk  and  general  of- 
fice-worker    9.00  18 

Department  Store Newspaper     clipping.       General     office 

work    9.00        18 

Dry   Goods   and   No- 
tions       Asst.  receiving  clerk 9.00        17 

Groceries  Enters  bills  and  checks  orders 9.00        17 

Wall  Paper Order  clerk 9.00        17 

Butcher  Shipping  clerk  9.00        17 

Dry   Goods   and   No- 
tions        Bill  clerk  8.50        17 

Dry   Goods   and   No- 
tions   Clerical  worker  and  salesman 8.00        18 

Clothing — Outer    Replaces  orders  for  shipment 8.00        18 

Clothing— Outer   Makes  out  tickets.   Charges  goods 8.00        17 

Department    Store Asst.  advertising  manager.     Attends  to 

transferring  and  correcting 8.00        17 

135 


BUSINESS                                   KIND  OF  WORK  WAGE  AGE 

Printing  and  Publish- 
ing  Fills  orders.     Order  clerk 8.00  17 

Printing  and  Publish- 
ing  Keeps  account  of  manuscripts 8.00  17 

Banking  and  Broker- 
age    Clerical  worker  8.00  17 

Banking    and    Broker-  General  office  worker.    Does  filing  and 

age   errands   8.00  17 

Advertising Office  worker  8.00  17 

Motor  Supplies Shipping  clerk  8.00  16 

Hardware   Asst.  shipping  clerk.     Ships  goods 8,00  16 

Feathers   Helper  on  shipping 8.00  16 

Newspaper    Attendant,  in  charge  of  four  boys 7.50  16 

Cement  and  Stone Salesman's  clerk  7.50  16 

Novelties  Prepares  orders  for  shipment 7.50  16 

Confectionery Ships  orders  7.00  18 

Rubber  Products Mail  clerk  and  office  assistant 7.00  18 

Jewelry   Asst.  shipping  clerk.     Prepares  orders 

for  shipment  7.00  17 

Banking  and  Broker- 
age  Stock  boy.    Fills  stock  cards 7.00  17 

Dressmaking    Asst.    shipping   clerk 7.00  17 

Insurance Changes  names  of  beneficiaries  in  poli- 
cies    7.00  17 

Groceries  Asst.  to  secretary.    General  office  work.  7.00  17 

Jewelry Office  and  clerical  work 7.00  17 

Furniture  and  Fixture.  File  clerk  7.00  17 

Insurance   Policy  checker  7.00  17 

Dental   Supplies Shipping  clerk.     Ships  goods 7.00  17 

Automobile    Junior  clerk.     General  office  worker...  7.00  16 

Drugs  and  Medicines.  .Records    charges    or    overcharges    and 

errors    7.00  16 

Dressmaking    Shipping  clerk,  packer,  etc 7.00  16 

Mail  Order  House File  clerk.    Delivers  packages  to  chutes  7.00  16 

Bottle  Cap  Making Does  clerical  work  for  Supt 7.00  15 

Glassware  and  China. .  .Receives  goods  and  checks  them 7.00  14 

Insurance    Mail  clerk.    Stamps  and  seals  envelopes  7.00  14 

Banking  and  Broker- 
age  Clerical  and  general  office  worker 6.25  17 

Civil    Service First  grade  clerk.     Does  filing  and  in- 
dexing    6.25  17 

Steamship    Does    bookkeeping    and    filing.      Keeps 

records    6.25  16 

Department    Store Sends  out  letters  and  catalogs 6.00  18 

Department    Store Sample  clerk 6.00  18 

Art  Work Clerical  worker   6.00  17 

Photography    Information    boy.     Gives    information, 

takes  orders   6.00  17 

Woolens    Files  correspondence,  etc 6.00  17 

136 


KIND  OF  WORK                                                         WAGE;  AGE 

Dressmaking Packs  orders  for  shipment 6.00  17 

Tobacco    Prepares  orders  for  shipment 6.00  17 

Clothing— Outer    Ships  goods,  makes  out  labor  tickets, 

gives  out  goods  to  cut. 6.00  17 

Dry    Goods    and    No- 
tions     Receipt  clerk   6.00  17 

Advertising  Does  all  office  work  and  filing 6.00  17 

Printing  &  Publishing. .  Keeps   time.     Typist 6.00  16 

Automobiles    Ships  goods   &00  16 

Banking    and    Broker- 
age   Stock  boy — clerical  work  and  errands. .  6.00  16 

Printing  and   Publish- 
ing   Filing  clerk  6.00  16 

Clothing— Outer    Asst.  shipping  clerk 6.00  16 

Clothing— Outer    Files  letters  and  bills.    Opens  mail 6.00  15 

Printing  and   Publish- 
ing   Files   letters    5.50  16 

Stationery   ...Sample  clerk.     Shows  stock 5.50  16 

Hat,    Cap,    Bonnet. . '. . .  Assistant  shipping  clerk 5.00  18 

Law  and  Collections ...  Law  clerk     Answers  cases  on  calendar. 

Does  office  work 5.00  17 

Stationery   Shipping  clerk  5.00  17 

Butcher    Files  receipts  and  claims 5.00  17 

Novelties    Packs,  ships  and  delivers  goods 5.00  17 

Packs,  ships  and  does  general  work 5.00  17 

Banking    and    Broker-  Board  boy.  Puts  up  quotations  on  stock 

age board    5.00  17 

Dry    Goods    and    No- 
tions     Shipping  clerk   5.00  17 

Button  Making Ships  goods.    Attends  to  stock 5.00  17 

Real  Estate  General  office  worker.    Care  of  receipts, 

collecting  rents,  etc 5.00  16 

Clothing — Outer    Helper.     General  office  worker 5.00  16 

Tobacco    Packs,  stamps  and  does  errands 5.00  16 

Printing  and   Publish-  Stamps  mails.     Deposits  same  in  post- 
ing           office    5.00  16 

Printing  and   Publish- 
ing   Filing  clerk  5.00  15 

Clothing — Outer    Helper  in  shipping  department 5.00  15 

Jewelry    General  utility  worker.  Office  work  and 

errands    5.00  15 

Department    Store Collects   goods   from   different   depart- 
ments    4.00  16 

Clothing — Outer    Helper  in  shipping  department 4.00  16 

Clothing — Outer    Asst.  shipping  clerk 4.00  16 

Painting  Assistant  clerk.    Answers  bell 4.00  15 

Glassware  and  China. . .  Billing  clerk 3.00  16 

Not  reported Receiving  clerk   16 

137 


Errand-Messengers  3     Wage  Range  $4-5     Age-Range  14-16 

BUSINESS                                   KIND  OF  WORK  WAGK      AGE 

ffHfH  Restaurant-  •  Office  work  and  messenger. .  $5  00        16 

Silk  Making Stock  book  and  errands 450 

Dressing    Helps  bookkeeper.    Does  errands 4.00        14 

Office  Boys  47       Wage  Hange  $2-8       Age  Range  14-18 

Building      and      Con- 

tracting    ......  Office  boy.    Switchboard  operator. .  $8  00        16 

Banking    and    Broker- 

*&e ••-.........Clerical  worker  8.00        16 

£xpress  and  Trucking.  Helper  in  office 800        16 

Produce   Office  boy 7  50        16 

Printing  and   Publish- 

T  in?u  •••;•. Sub-clerical  worker  7.00        17 

Leather  and  Skin Typist    7>00        16 

Advertising     office  boy.    Does   errands 7.00        15 

Advertising     Office  boy.    Mail  clerk 6.00        17 

Building      and      Con- 

tracting    .          Office  boy.    Answers  telephone . .  6.00        17 

furniture  and  Fixture.  Office  boy.    Telephone  work  and  mail- 

^  4                                           ing    6.00        16 

Buttons    . . . Office  boy.    Runs  errands 6.00        16 

Metal,   Steel,  Iron Office  clerk  6.00        16 

Department  Store Office  boy.    Does  filing  and  general  of- 
fice work  6.00        16 

Hardware    Office  boy 6.00        16 

Banking    and    Broker- 

age Clerical  worker  and  errand  boy 6.00        16 

bteamsmp    Office  boy.    Telephone  work  and  mail- 
ing      6.00        16 

Dry  Goods  and  Notions.Does  errands  and  filing 6.00        15 

Building      and      Con- 
tracting     Sub-clerical  worker   5.50        16 

Clothing— Outer    Office  boy   5.00        18 

Neckwear    Office  and  errand  boy 5.00        17 

Feathers  Office  and  errand  boy 5,00        17 

Painting  Office  and  telephone  boy.    Receives  and 

announces   visitors    5.00        17 

Musical  Instruments...  Office  boy.     Marks  price  of  goods  on 

sales  slips  5.00        17 

Metal,  Steel,  Iron Does  telephone  work  and  mailing.    Er- 
rand boy 5.00        17 

Lighting  Fixtures Office,  errand  and  telephone  boy.     Ad- 
dresses letters 5.00        16 

Liquors    Office,  switchboard  and  errand  boy 5.00        16 

Butcher    Office,  mail  and  errand  boy 5.00        16 

Express  and  Trucking.  Office  and  errand  boy 5.00        16 

Telephone    Messenger  and  office  boy.    Files  papers .  5.00        15 

Clothing— Outer    Takes  care  of  mail  books 5.00        15 

138 


BUSINESS                                  KIND  OF  WORK  WAGE  AGE 

Lithographing  Directs  callers.    Does  errands 5.00  15 

Furniture  and  Fixtures.Qffice,  errand  and  telephone  boy 5.00  15 

Electrical    Appliances.  .Office,  errand  and  telephone  boy.     Re- 
ceives goods   5.00  15 

Law  and  Collections..  Office    boy.      Answers    bells    and   tele- 
phone calls 5.00  14 

Hardware    Office  boy 4.50  16 

Machinery    Office  boy.    Cleans  office.    Does  errands  4.50  14 

Groceries  Office,  telephone  and  errand  boy 4.00  16 

Glassware  and  China... Office,  telephone  and  mail  boy.     Mes- 
senger     4.00  16 

Painting Errand  and  telephone  boy.    Does  typing 

and  takes  care  of  samples 4.00  16 

Oil  Products Watch-office  boy  4.00  15 

Novelties  Office  boy 4.00  15 

Real  Estate Office,  mail  and  telephone  boy 4.00  15 

Religion    Does  light  bookkeeping  and  switchboard 

work    4.00  15 

Hardware   Addresses  envelopes.    Does  errands 4.00 

Drugs  and  Medicines.. Office  boy.    Answers  bells 4.00  14 

Doctor Office   boy — during   summer   and   after 

school    2.00  15 

Woolens   Office  boy   15 


TABLE  13:  OFFICE  POSITIONS  HELD  BY  UNTRAINED  GIRLS 
14  TO  18  YEARS  OF  AGE  INCLUSIVE.  BUREAU  OF  ATTENDANCE 
RECORDS,  1915. 

Addressers  3        Wage  Range  $6        Age  Range  16-17 

Mail  Order  House. . .  .Addresses  mail $6.00  17 

Mail  Order  House Addresses  envelopes 6.00  16 

Printing  and  Publish- 
ing     Addresses  envelopes 6.00  16 

Bookkeepers  7       Wage  Range  $5-9       Age  Range  14-17 

Dressmaking Answers  letters  and  keeps  books $9.00        17 

Hat,  Cap,  Bonnet Does  all  bookkeeping  for  firm 7.00        16 

Machinery    Makes  entries.    Takes  dictation,  copies 

letters    5.00        15 

Express  and  Trucking. Takes  charge  of  books  for  father 5.00        15 

Furniture  and  Fixture . Answers      telephone;      correspondence 

work.    Keeps  the  books « .  5.00 

Dressmaking    Enters  orders  5.00 

Steamship    Balances  accounts  for  father ...         17 

139 


Cashiers  8       Wage  Range  $2.50-9       Age  Range  14-17 

BUSINESS                                   KIND  OF  WORK  WAGE  AGE 

Clothing— Outer    Cashier.     Does  some  bookkeeping $9.00  15 

Department  Store Takes  cash,  checks  parcels 8.00  17 

Butcher  Cashier   8.00  17 

Department  Store Tallies    time    of    employees.     Receives 

money  for  sales 7.00  16 

Groceries  Sits  at  register  and  makes  change 6.00  14 

Hotel  and  Restaurant.  .Takes  charge  of  cash 5.00  16 

Department  Store    Cashier  and  packer 5.00  17 

Butcher    Cashier  and  bookkeeper 5.00  16 


Clerks  45       Wage  Range  $3.50-10       Age  Range  14-18 

Tobacco   Factory  pay  roll  clerk $10.00        18 

Department    Store Keeps  records  of  correspondence 10.00        18 

Dressmaking    Keeps  track  of  material  given  out 10.00        17 

Advertising    Graphotype  operator 10.00        15 

Department  Store Files  orders    14 

Printing  and  PublishingDoes  posting  and  billing.     Asst.  book- 
keeper     9.00        18 

Printing  and  PublishingFiles  letters.     Asst.  bookkeeper 8.00        18 

Department    Store Addressograph  machine  operator 8.00        17 

Dry  Goods  and  NptionsShipping  clerk   8.00        17 

Printing  and  PublishingMakes  out  bills 8.00        17 

Banking  and  BrokerageKeeps  track  of  money  received  and  files 

bills    8.00        16 

Embroidery  and  Lace. . Marks  goods 7.50        18 

Printing  and  PublishingFiles   bills    7.00        18 

Department    Store Writes  call  checks 7.00        17 

Religion    Does  typing 7.00        17 

Department    Store Files  and  addresses  letters 7.00        16 

Photographing    Does  general  office  work 7.00 

Shirtwaists — Ladies    .  ..Asst.  bookkeeper  7.00        17 

Tobacco    Tabulates  sheets.     Does  filing 6.50        16 

Stationery    Files  letters.    Asst.  bookkeeper 6.00 

Mail  Order  House Fills  out  blanks  for  customers 6.00 

Clothing-t-Outer    Keeps  accounts  of  received  goods 6.00        16 

Clothing— Outer   Cuts  tickets  6.00        16 

Agricultural Printer.    Works  at  stenciling  and  esti- 
mates    6.00        16 

Mail   Order  House. . .  .Writes  letters  6.00        16 

Department    Store Attends   to   mail,   makes   out  bills  and 

keeps  books  6.00 

Department    Store Attends  to  mail  orders 5.00 

Feathers    Charges  accounts 6.00 

Medical    Instruments.  ..Does  general  office  work 5.50 

Department    Store. Audits   due  bills 5.00        18 

Department    Store Enters    sales.     Turns    in    amounts    to 

cashier  at  end  of  month 5.00        18 

140 


BUSINESS  KIND  OF  WORK  WAGE      AGE 

Department    Store Sorts  bills.    Looks  up  orders 5.00  17 

Department    Store Answers  telephone.    Looks  up  orders. .       5.00  17 

Printing  and  PublishingFiles  bills  5.00  16 

Pattern    Making Files  order  cards 5.00  16 

Clothing— Outer    Does  clerical  work 5.00  16 

Department    Store Entry  clerk.    Puts  checks  on  boxes 5.00  16 

Printing  and  PublishingAddresses  envelopes.     Files  cards 5.00  15 

Department    Store Clerk  in  mail  order  dept 4.50  17 

Department    Store Checks  up  commission  of  clerks 4.50  16 

(lunch) 

Department    Store Keeps  track  of  appointments  in  altera- 
tion department  4.00      *  16 

Department    Store Enters  bills  in  books 4.00  17 

Department    Store Files  letters.    Answers  telephone 4.00  16 

Department    Store Does  general  office  work 4.00  17 

News  Clipper  1          Wage  Range  $5          Age  Range  17 

Newspaper  Cuts  clippings  from  papers  and  pastes 

them $5.00  17 

Telephone  Operator  1       Wage  Range  $5       Age  Range  17 

Department    Store Calls  up  self  charges $5.00  17 


TABLE  14:  OFFICE  POSITIONS  HELD  BY  BOYS  14  TO  18  YEARS 
OF  AGE  WHO  HAVE  HAD  COMMERCIAL  TRAINING.  BUREAU  OF 
ATTENDANCE  RECORDS,  1915. 

Bookkeepers  2        Wage  Range  $8-10        Age  Range  17 

Roofing  Keeps  accounts    $10.00        17 

Leather  and  Skins          Asst.  bookkeeper  8.00        17 

Clerks  12       Wage  Range  $4.50-10       Age  Range  15-18 

Instruction    .Shipping  clerk  $10.00        17 

Electrical    Appliances.  .Shipping  clerk.     Gets  orders  ready  and 

ships  them.    Also  receives  goods...  8.50        17 

Embroidery  and  Lace.  .Does  filing,  indexing  and  typing 8.00        16 

Railroads     Filing  clerk  6.25 

Law    and    Collections . .  Does  typing  and  filing 6.00 

Machinery General  office  worker 6.00 

Plumbing Keeps  charges  and  letter  books 6.00        16 

141 


BUSINESS  KIND  OF  WORK  WAGE      AGE 

Stationery   Packs   orders    for   delivery 6.00  16 

Tobacco Sends  out  letters.    Does  stamping 5.50  16 

Engineering  and  Motor 

Supplies    Does  filing  and  order  work 5.00  16 

Steamship  Lines Mail  clerk.    Folds  and  inserts  circulars  5.00  16 

Mail  Order  House Checks  invoices.    Does  billing  and  mail- 
ing      4.50  15 

Copy  Holder  1          Wage  Bange  $5  Age  Range  17 

Printing  and  PublishingCopy  holder  for  proof  reader $5.00        17 

Office  Boys  7       Wage  Range  $4-6       Age  Range  14-17 

Furniture  and  Fixtures.  Office  and  mail  boy.    Does  errands $6.00  16 

Amusement Office  boy 5.00  17 

Architecture   Office  boy.    Files  drawings 5.00  16 

Department    Store Office  boy.    Does  clerical  and  telephone 

work    5.00  15 

Law  and  Collections. .  .Does  minor  clerical  work  and  errands..  5.00  15 

Real    Estate Does  general  office  work  and  errands. .  4.50  17 

Drugs  and  Medicines . .  Office  boy 4.00  14 

Stenographers  and  Typists  4  Wage  Range  $9-12 

Age  Range  15-18 

Electricity  and  Gas Stenographer  and  typist $12.00        18 

Railroad    ....Correspondence.     Enters  freight  cards.  10.00 

Automobile    Stenographer  and  typist 10.00 

Printing  and  PublishingTypist    9.00        15 


TABLE  15:  OFFICE  POSITIONS  HELD  BY  GIRLS  14  TO  18  YEARS 
OF  AGE  WHO  HAVE  HAD  COMMERCIAL  TRAINING.  BUREAU  OF 
ATTENDANCE  OF  RECORDS,  1915. 

Bookkeepers  6       Wage  Range  $6-8       Age  Range  15-17 

Automobile  Asst.  bookkeeper.     Does  general  office 

work.    Enters  charges  in  books $8.00        17 

Department    Store Does  billing.  Answers  telephone.  Looks 

up  charges  7.00        17 

Dental  Supplies Enters  charges.    Assists  in  bookkeeping      6.00 

Printing  &  Publishing.  Keeps  book  and  accounts 6.00        15 

Plumbing     Makes  out  bills 17 

Funeral— Undertaking.. Bookkeeper  and  stenographer   for  father 

142 


Cashier  1  Wage  Range  $6  Age  Range  17 

BUSINESS                                  KIND  OF  WORK  WAGE  AGE 

Groceries   Does  bookkeeping  and  makes  change. .  $6.00  17 

Clerks  15        Wage  Range  $3.50-9         Age  Range  14-18 

Glove   Making Does  general  office  work $9.00  18 

Furniture  and  Fixtures.  Comptometer  operator 8.00  17 

Printing  &  Publishing.  Files  letters.    Asst.  bookkeeper 8.00  18 

Printing  &  Publishing.  Files  bills  7.00  18 

Drugs  and  Medicines . .  Operates  adding  machine 7.00  17 

Printing  &  Publishing. Addresses  envelopes 7.00  17 

Tobacco    Asst  bookkeeper  6.50  16 

Instruction    Does  typing 6.00  18 

Stationery   Files  letters.    Asst.  bookkeeper 6.00  17 

Mail  Order  House Enters  orders  in  books.    Keeps  monthly 

totals   5.50  17 

Mail  Order  House Writes  and  keeps  account  of  mail 5.00  17 

Medical   Instruments. .  .Answers  telephone  and  takes  orders 5.00  17 

Mail  Order  House Sends  out  requisitions 5.00  16 

Glassware  and  China. .  .Does  clerical  work,  filing,  etc 5.00  15 

Box  Making Answers  telephone  and  enters  bills 5.00 

Drugs  and  Medicines. .  Makes  out  bills  and  transfers 5.00  14 

Feathers               Addresses  mail 3.50  14 


Telephone  Operators  2  Wage  Range  $6-8 

Age  Range  16-18 

Clothing — Outer    .       . .  Correspondence  and  billing.    Does  typ- 
ing      $8.00        18 

Furniture  and  Fixtures. Does  filing  and  writing 6.00        16 


Stenographers  and  Typists  27         Wage  Range  $5.50-12 
Age  Range  16-19 

Law  and  Collections. .  .Law  clerk $12.00        19 

Advertising  Does  secretarial  work 12.00 

Dressmaking    Does  bookkeeping  and  stenography 12.00 

Automobiles    - .  .Works  on  pay  roll,  books,  letters,  etc. . .  12.00 

Liquors              Keeps  track  of  orders  and  letters 12.00 

Tobacco Takes  dictation   10.00 

Civil  Service Keeps   records    10.00        16 

Box  Making.'.*. Stenography  and  bookkeeping 9.00        16 

Printing  &  Publishing. Dictation  of  letters 8.75 

Mining     and     Mining 

Products    Takes  dictation.    Does  copying 8.00 

Real  Estate —  Has  entire  charge  of  office  dictation...  7.00 

Embroidery  and  Lace.  .Does  office  work 7.00        17 

143 


BUSINESS                                  KIND  OF  WORK  WAGE      AGE 

Department    Store Files  bills.    Does  typing 7.00        17 

Express  and  Trucking.  Does   bookkeeping.     Receives   and   an- 
swers mail  7.00        17 

Printing  &  Publishing.  Takes  dictation.    Does  office  work 7.00        16 

Dressmaking —  Switchboard  work  and  correspondence.  7.00        16 

Law  and  Collections. . .  Copies  and  addresses  envelopes 6.25        17 

Law  and  Collections. .  .Types  all  legal  work 6.00        19 

Hotel  and  Restaurants. Does  typing  and  stenography 6.00        17 

Law— Collections    Types  letters    6.00 

Funeral — Undertaking..  Keeps  accounts  of  books.  Types  charges  6.00 

Department    Store Fills  in  circular  letters 6.00        17 

Mail  Order  House Does   typing    6.00 

Real  Estate Types  and  files  letters 6.00 

Printing  &  Publishing. Types  letters  to  subscribers 6.00 

Department    Store Makes  out  bills 5.50 

Drugs  and  Medicines . .  Does  typing 


144 


LOAN  DEPT 


VC  05814 


>#: 

/WJf 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRAKY 


